Our members are a talented bunch! Here you can see books published, link to member websites, competition wins and shortlistings, journal and online publication and other writerly wins.
Published Books and Web Links
Browse or buy our members’ books.
Greg Jessep
Adventures in the Outback is a collection of short stories and one poem inspired by the author’s time in the outback of Queensland and New South Wales, tutoring young people doing their schooling via Schools of the Air and home-schooling. The stories include many of the things common to these youngsters but not to those living in cities or big regional towns. Experience life on these outback properties where sometimes the unexpected happens and wonderful friendships are formed.
Adventures in the Outback can be purchased here or directly from Greg for $15 (free postage) by calling 0414 440 607.
Leanne Dyson
Darkness and Light , East Gippsland Pictures and Poems is exclusively available from Leanne at $65 a copy. The book is a 60-page photobook, with 42 East Gippsland images taken by Leanne and 32 of her poems. A majority of the poems began as creative writing class tasks. The photographs have been taken over a period of several years. If you would like a copy contact Leanne via Facebook messenger or by phone 0427 335 916. Find out more about the book here.
Rosie Abbott
Lost in Retirement: the adventures of Barry Bainbridge (2021)
Rosie Abbott’s third and latest novel, Lost in Retirement: the adventures of Barry Bainbridge, available in November 2021, is a warm, relatable, engaging, heartfelt story about a man having difficulty navigating the challenges and joys of recent retirement and living longer.
Rosie’s second novel, Bloody Blockies: rules for city blow-ins, published in 2020, is set prior to the Black Saturday fires in Callignee, Gippsland in 2009. City blow-ins, Liz and Tony, feel like foreigners in a country culture that carries generations of anecdotes as gospel. There is no rulebook. This novel offers humour and quiet wisdom to anyone thinking of a tree-change. Never take anything for granted.
Her first novel, The Scent of Belonging, published in 2012, is set in Gippsland during the aftermath of the Second World War. Young teacher Ellen is unprepared for country life, and even less prepared for romance, as she searches for reasons to stay or to leave. This novel is a sweeping drama about family, friendships and the place you call home.
Rosie was born in Melbourne, and has spent most of her life living in country Victoria. A lifelong interest in the environment, a sense of belonging, and the meaning of home, are central elements in her writing. She has received awards for short stories and poetry.
If you would like copies of any of her novels email rosieabbottbooks [at] gmail.com
Jemimah Brewster
Oscar & Alice is a suburban Gothic tale of a dysfunctional family failing to cope with the aftermath of their son’s sudden and gory death by lightning. Oscar, whose head was apparently vaporised in the incident, begins to haunt his still-living twin sister, Alice, who, recently abandoned by their mother, seeks guidance from a prickly English teacher who might be a witch. Alice must contend with stray cats, mean girls, a goofball dog, and a bag of flaming faeces. But maybe, with advice and aid from unexpected sources, she’ll help her brother move on and put her family back together again.
Order from the author’s website here or Booktopia here.
Agi Dobson
Korumburra writer Agi Dobson’s first collection of poems Feelings… has been published last month by Stringybark Press. The poems in this 45 page, A5 sized book are varied in subject and setting, unified by the theme of deep emotion. The language, visual and sensory, captures feelings of love, loss, joy and sorrow. Cost: $20 posted – enquiries for purchase can be sent to pandadobson@hotmail.com
Lorraine de Kleuver
The Coo-ee Trilogy is now available! To enquire or buy, email cuddlesbooks@gmail.com or visit cuddleschildrensbooks.com.au. The books are $18.00 each but a discount of $2 applies for each book if more than one book is purchased.
Abbas Mehran
Abbas has published his novel Alley of Scented of Roses.
Mitra Johnson is a talented and accomplished young writer residing in New York with her husband, Benjamin, a skilled web designer. Despite her success, Mitra has struggled to complete her dream novel for the past two years. When she returns to Melbourne to attend the extravagant wedding of her childhood friend Rana, she tries to ignore that she has two daunting problems: her husband has left her, and due to severe writer’s block, not a page of her dream book is completed.
In Melbourne, Mitra is immersed in the world of her Iranian mother, Noosha, who owns the Alley of Scented Roses, a lively and vibrant flower shop and rose garden in Dandenong. Noosha is determined to discover the perfect recipe for a unique Persian rose attar. As Mitra reconnects with Rana, she becomes embroiled in a scandalous wedding plot to rescue her friend from an unwanted marriage. Soon, in a renewed flow of creativity, she manifests a novel, not the one she had dreamed of, but the lyrical, allusive Alley of Scented Roses.
Alley of Scented Roses is available at Sandi Wallace has been addicted to crime fiction and dreamed of being a crime writer since about the age of six. She now lives that dream with her husband on Phillip Island. Among Sandi’s publications are four novels and two collections of short stories, and she has won a host of prizes for her long and short crime fiction including the Davitt Award Readers’ Choice for her debut rural noir thriller. Sandi is at work on her latest novel. You can find her at www.sandiwallace.com and her socials www.instagram.com/sandiwallacecrime and www.facebook.com/sandi.wallace.crimewriter.
Sandi Wallace
Crow Corner