I was born in Melbourne where I live with my wife and son.
I have had fiction published in Granta New Writing 14, Best Australian Short Stories 2006, Readings Anthology, New Australian Stories, Wet Ink, The Griffith Review, Visible Ink and Meanjin.
In addition, I write occasional book reviews for The Australian Literary Review, The Age and Australian Book Review. In 2007 I won the Josephine Ulrick Literature Prize for the short story The Possibility of Water, which was published in the May 2008 edition of The Griffith Review as well as New Australian Stories (Scribe) in 2009.
My first novel The Low Road - which won the 2008 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction - was published by Scribe in 2007 and has been hailed as a "... dreamscape with echoes of Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens, Samuel Beckett, Horace McCoy, Georges Simenon and Philip K. Dick ..."
My second novel Bereft will be published by Scribe in August 2010. In 1909, 16-year-old Quinn Walker was forced to flee the tiny NSW country town of Flint, accused of raping and murdering his beloved younger sister Sarah. Ten years later, having been injured in World War One, he returns to clear his name. It is 1919. The Great War has ended but the Spanish Flu epidemic is raging through Australia. Quinn hides out in the hills surrounding Flint but secretly meets with his flu-stricken mother, with whom he re-establishes a tender and loving relationship. In the bush he meets a young girl called Sadie Fox, who offers to help him find out who killed Sarah all those years before. Gradually, Quinn comes to believe that the enigmatic orphan is possessed by the spirit of his murdered sister. When they finally discover the truth of Sarah’s murder, it will change their lives forever.
Imagine Wuthering Heights set in rural Australia with a soundtrack by Tom Waits...
I am represented by Lyn Tranter at Australian Literary Management.
Don't worry - there will be no blog, although I have succumbed to the time-wasting charms of Facebook. Join my fan page for updates on publications. Or not.
FICTION PUBLICATIONS AND PRIZES
| 2009 |
|
| - | 'The Age of Terror' Short Story (Readings Anthology) |
| - | 'The Other Side of Silence' Short Story (Griffith Review) |
| - | 'The Very Edge of Things' Short Story (Meanjin) |
| - | 'The Shed' Short Story produced for ABC Radio National Sunday Story |
| - | 'The Possibility of Water ' Short Story included in anthology New Australian Stories (Scribe Publishing) |
| 2008 |
|
| - | Novel 'The Low Road' winner of Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction |
| - | 'The Possibility of Water' Short Story (The Griffith Review) |
| - | 'What the Darkness Said' Short Story (Wet Ink) |
| 2007 | |
| - | Novel 'The Low Road' (Scribe Publishing) |
| - | 'The Vessel' Short story (Vignette Press Minishot) |
| - | Winner, Josephine Ulrick Prize for short story 'The Possibility of Water' |
| - | 'Growing Pains' Short story (The Big Issue) |
| 2006 | |
| - | Short story 'The Shed' included in anthology The Best Australian Short Stories, 2006 (Black Inc) |
| - | Short story 'The Shed' included in anthology Granta New Writing 14 (Granta) |
| - | Manuscript for 'The Low Road' shortlisted for Victorian Premiers' Award for Unpublished Manuscript |
| - | Short story 'The Lonely Planet' included in anthology Tattle Tales (Visible Ink) |
The Low Road | Scribe | Australian Literary Management | Contact