At 86, Clunes writer Lee Dunn has earned a place among just 100 authors from across NSW in this year’s Seniors’ Stories book, which was launched on Monday at the NSW State Library. And she is far from the only North Coast voice in its pages.
Mrs Dunn’s short story, Queenie, features in Volume 12 of the collection, alongside the work of 11 other writers from Byron Bay to Bulahdelah.
This year’s authors wrote to the theme Neighbours, Strangers, and the People in Between.
“Queenie fits perfectly with this year’s theme, Neighbours, Strangers, and the People In Between, exploring the connections we make, life-changing moments and fascinating encounters that shape our lives,” said State Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin.
Queenie tells of the woman who lived across the back fence from Mrs Dunn’s childhood home in a Brisbane street in the 1950s, and the hidden past behind her golden braided hair, a secret her mother only shared after Queenie died. It is also a story about Mrs Dunn’s own childhood longing to be “normal” in a family whose communist parents handed out pamphlets on street corners.
“Now, in old age, I know that my idea of ‘normal’ was always an illusion,” she wrote.
Mrs Dunn is a retired Southern Cross University teaching academic.
In 2019, she published Nutter Buzacott Artist: Observations of Life & Landscape, a survey of her late father’s modernist art, produced in Melbourne, Brisbane, and South Tweed.
Last year, she self-published Winnie & Me, a memoir of her relationship with her physiotherapist mother. Queenie grew out of that book.
Further south, Lake Cathie has three writers in the book.
Pat Bough’s Bricks and Mortar, Words on a Page and a Knowing Smile moves from her well-loved bookcase to the friendships of a lifetime, including a husband she met almost 60 years ago and new friends made after moving to an over 50s lifestyle resort on the mid-north coast after the COVID pandemic.
Margaret Klower’s A Teenager and a Stale Bread Roll recalls a 2001 day trip from Port Macquarie to Kempsey, when her 17-year-old son gave his lunch to a struggling stranger in a park by the river and taught her a lesson about judging people.
Pamela McKay’s A Roomful of Characters takes readers behind the counter of a bank on Pension Day in the 1990s, and the regular customers who left lasting impressions.
In Coffs Harbour, Jenni Eakins’ The Changing of the Tide follows a woman whose husband falls down a seven-metre rock wall on a weekend away, and the four strangers on the beach who came to his aid before she could even learn their names.
Rowena Parkes of Bellingen writes in On Being Seen about neighbours, lifelong friendships, and the people who fall between the cracks, from a lonely smoker outside a London apartment to the old neighbours she still bumps into at the local IGA.
Margaret Bell of Thora offers the comedy of the collection. Her story, Strange Bedfellows, recounts a night after dinner at the local RSL with new neighbours, a rambling rented house, and a wrong turn in the dark that ended in a friendship still going strong more than 30 years later.
Jill Plummer of Moonee Beach looks back in Bits and Pieces on the neighbours of her childhood street, and the bosses who stood by her when her husband was diagnosed with cancer.
Grafton’s Col Dixon pays tribute to his removalist father in Bug Shifters. When Mr Dixon was diagnosed with cancer at 30, his father, a neighbour and a workmate packed up his house in a day and quietly stored his belongings until he was well enough to come home.
“They never moved houses; they moved people,” he wrote.
Sally Milliss of Logans Crossing writes in The Power of Strangers about the kindness of a woman she met on a beach the day after her husband died.
Byron Bay’s Barbara Barrett tells in Neighbourhood Watch of the watchful neighbours who turned a street of strangers into a close-knit community, and the Neighbourhood Watch group they started together.
Bulahdelah’s John Sahyoun looks back on his 50th high school reunion in 50 Years Past, and the friendships that have lasted half a century.
This year’s Seniors’ Stories drew 528 entries from NSW Seniors Card and Seniors Savers Card holders. The stories across the book cover near-death encounters, coffee shop friendships, and the discovery of “perfect strangers”.
Several stories were translated into the authors’ native languages, including Italian, Sindhi, Polish, Sinhalese, and German.
The book was produced in partnership with the Fellowship of Australian Writers NSW Inc, which also ran short story writing workshops to help seniors build their skills, try new techniques, and swap ideas.
“The concept was willingly embraced by New South Wales Seniors who submitted a total of 1,200 personal stories for publication throughout the years,” said State President of the Fellowship of Australian Writers Inc Colleen Parker.
Seniors’ Stories began in 2013 to showcase the creative writing skills and life experiences of older people in NSW.
“Older people across the state have so many fascinating stories to share and we all benefit from their insights,” said Minister for Seniors Jodie Harrison.
“Seniors’ Stories ties all these stories together and leaves a lasting record for future generations to reflect and learn.”
Printed copies of the book will go to participating authors, NSW libraries, and state electorate offices, and will be available at Seniors Card events.
A digital version and an audiobook will also be available on the NSW Seniors Card website at www.nsw.gov.au/community-services/seniors-card/seniors-stories