Julie Chevalier divides her time among writing poetry, short fiction, and letters to the council about tree pruning. Her poetry appears in Best Australian Poetry 2011 and 2012 as well as in print and online literary journals. She came to Sydney from the United States in 1965.
Although she spotted a brush-tailed rock wallaby in Lucas Cave at the Jenolan Caves yesterday, this is as close as she has come to writing a poem about nature. Art and artists are more likely targets.
This year Julie is playing around with what you can do with a writing exercise and 500 to 2,000 words. This theoretical journey has taken her to Queensland, Florida, Norwich England, and Venice. Her short stories appear in Permission to Lie, journals and anthologies, including Best Australian Short Stories 2011.
In 2013 she taught in the poets @ work program at Sydney Uni, and at the WEA. She enjoys both mentoring (ASA and NSWWC) and teaching. Several of the authors she has worked with have gone on to publish work she wishes she had written.
With Linda Godfrey she co-edited Small Wonder and Stoned Crows, collections of prose poems and microfiction. Currently she and Bron Mehan are co-editing Cracking the Spine, a collection of ten Australian short stories accompanied by the author’s comments about the craft of writing them. Cracking the Spine will be published in July 2014.
