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Gretchen Shirm Gretchen Shirm i(A118890 works by)
Born: Established: 1979 Kiama, Kiama area, Illawarra, South Coast, New South Wales, ;
Gender: Female
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BiographyHistory

Shirm received the D. J. O’Hearn Memorial Fellowship for Emergent Writers in 2009. She holds a Master of Creative Writing from the University of Sydney and her fiction has appeared in literary journals. She has lived in Sydney, where she worked as a lawyer.

In 2021, she was shortlisted for the Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship.

Most Referenced Works

Personal Awards

2022 shortlisted Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship for 'Blue Chair'.
2021 shortlisted Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship
2020 shortlisted Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize for 'Hiroshima Blooms'.

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Where the Light Falls Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2016 9510079 2016 single work novel

'An expat photographer returns to Australia to make sense of his traumatic childhood and the disappearance of his former girlfriend.

'Where the Light Falls tells the story of Andrew, a photographer in his 30s who comes back to Australia when he hears that his former girlfriend has disappeared. By the time he gets back, her body has been found, and everything points to suicide, though the coroner's findings are left open. As Andrew unravels the mystery of her death, he puts his current relationship at risk for reasons he barely understands. At the same time he meets a damaged teenage girl whom he knows will be a riveting subject for his new series of photos. As he struggles to understand why his ex's death has affected him so viscerally, Andrew realises that photography has become an obsession predicated on his need to hold on to the things he has lost in his life. He finds himself re- evaluating his past, his art, and what he wants his life to mean.

'This is a stunning, gripping and deeply moving novel from a young writer whose star is on the rise.' (Publication summary)

2017 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Christina Stead Prize for Fiction
y separately published work icon Into a Turquoise Pool 2014 (Manuscript version)7241424 7241419 2014 single work novel
2014 shortlisted The Australian / Vogel National Literary Award (for an unpublished manuscript)
y separately published work icon Having Cried Wolf Mulgrave : Affirm Press , 2010 Z1724642 2010 selected work short story (taught in 5 units)

'Small towns harbour secrets. Rising, receding and returning like the tides lapping the fictional coastal town of Kinsale, the stories in this collection revolve around Alice and Grace, friends since childhood, who grow to live vastly different lives.

Weaving in and around these women is a lattice of interconnecting stories drawing in their husbands, families, neighbours and strangers, each linked to one another by fate or circumstance. Having Cried Wolf is a contemplative and affecting collection - one that marks the arrival of an original literary talent.' (From the publisher's website.)

2011 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing
2011 joint winner The Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist of the Year
Last amended 10 Dec 2021 11:35:09
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