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Nigel Featherstone Nigel Featherstone i(A30132 works by)
Also writes as: William Cooper
Born: Established: 1968 Sydney, New South Wales, ;
Gender: Male
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BiographyHistory

Nigel Featherstone grew up in Sydney and has described Mt. Wilson in the Blue Mountains as his 'childhood dreaming place' (Joy, 2000). He has written adult fiction and creative journalism, and his short stories have been published in major Australian literary journals including Meanjin, Island, and Overland, as well as in the US.

Since 2007, Featherstone ‘has been a frequent contributor to Panorama, the weekend arts magazine of The Canberra Times, and his work has also been syndicated to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age’. Featherstone ‘has held residencies at: Varuna, the National Writers House (Blue Mountains); Bundanon (Shoalhaven River); ... the Kingsbridge Gatekeeper’s Cottage, Cataract Gorge, courtesy of the Launceston City Council’ and the Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra.

Featherstone ‘is the founding editor of literary journal Verity La, for which he received a 2012 Canberra Critics Circle Award’.

Major source: ACT Writers’ Centre Weekly eNews, 5 September 2013.

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon My Heart is a Little Wild Thing Ultimo : Ultimo Press , 2022 23057851 2022 single work novel

'The day after I tried to kill my mother, I tossed some clothes, a pair of hiking boots, a baseball cap and a few toiletries into my backpack, and left at dawn.

'Patrick has always considered himself a good son. Willing to live his life to please his parents, his sense of duty paramount to his own desires and dreams. But as his mother’s health continues to deteriorate and his siblings remain absent, he finds the ties that bind him to his mother begin to chafe.

'After an argument leads to a violent act he travels to a familiar country escape to reflect on what his life could be – and through a chance encounter with a rare animal and an intriguing stranger starts to wonder if perhaps it is not too late to let his heart run wild.

'A story about family, love and the cost of freedom, My Heart is a Little Wild Thingserves as a reminder that we all deserve to pursue our dreams.'

Source : publication summary

2022 winner Canberra Critics Circle Awards Writing
y separately published work icon Bodies of Men Sydney : Hachette Australia , 2019 16512574 2019 single work novel

'There is nothing more important than love and refuge.

Egypt, 1941Only hours after disembarking in Alexandria, William Marsh, an Australian corporal at twenty-one, is face down in the sand, caught in a stoush with the Italian enemy. He is saved by James Kelly, a childhood friend from Sydney and the last person he expected to see. But where William escapes unharmed, not all are so fortunate.

William is sent to supervise an army depot in the Western Desert, with a private directive to find an AWOL soldier: James Kelly. When the two are reunited, James is recovering from an accident, hidden away in the home of an unusual family - a family with secrets. Together they will risk it all to find answers.

Soon William and James are thrust headlong into territory more dangerous than either could have imagined.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

2019 winner Canberra Critics Circle Awards Fiction
2020 highly commended Australian Capital Territory Book of the Year Award
2020 longlisted HNSA Historical Novel Prize
2019 shortlisted Queensland Literary Awards Fiction Book Award
y separately published work icon The Beach Volcano Canberra : Blemish Books , 2014 7278735 2014 single work novel children's

'“How should we deal with what’s lost? And how should we deal with what’s to become, something unknown but so very much desired?”

'After years of estrangement, Canning Albury, a revered and irreverent singer-songwriter, returns home to celebrate his father’s eightieth birthday. His welcome is mixed, at best. But Canning has made the trip for more than just a glass of Pol Roger and an eyeful of Sydney Harbour at sunset. He carries a secret about his family’s murky and unchartered past—a secret that could be explosive. The Beach Volcano is a fearless exploration of life’s many compromises, and the burdens we bear for those we love.' (Publication summary)

2014 winner Canberra Critics Circle Awards Fiction
Last amended 25 Sep 2013 13:21:45
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