The short story….

Kathy George is the author of Estella and Sargasso, and has a master’s degree in Australian Gothic Literature. She has won the Hal Porter Short Story Award, been short-listed in a string of short story competitions, and been published in numerous literary journals including Meanjin, The Big Issue, Award Winning Australian Writing, and Margaret River Press anthologies. Kathy is represented by Sally Bird of Calidris Literary Agency.

The more interesting story…

I have written since I was a child, but I never dreamed that one day I might be an author. I didn’t excel at English at school, and flunked first year university. I returned to uni very late in life to get a creative writing degree, but it was one of the best things I’ve ever done. The best thing I ever did was to fall in love at first sight, not across a crowded room but a train carriage. Some of my favourite books include Rebecca, Wuthering Heights, and Great Expectations. I have always been drawn to tortured, complex and intense characters, my all-time favourite being Heathcliff. I write in the mornings, and try to treat my writing like a business. My favourite place to be is at the sea, preferable in it. It is food for my soul. I love travelling. I love animals. Red wine or white? Bubbles, actually. I was born in South Africa, have lived in Namibia and New Zealand, but have called Australia home for what seems like forever. I live in Brisbane with my husband, and we have three grown up children.