Helen Richardson is a writer and editor living in the Blue Mountains, NSW. She has an honours research masters in Australian Literature from the University in Sydney and a Certificate in Editing and Publishing from UTS. Helen does manuscript appraisals and editing for Mountain Manuscripts, and has worked as a freelance editor for many years.
Her story ‘Cooped Up’ is included in the Newcastle Short Story Award Anthology 2019: “the dynamics are powerfully conveyed through what is not said” – Annabel Smith (judge). “The Stand-In” won the Scriptworks prize at the Scarlett Siletto Awards 2018 and is published in The Tenth Cut (Clandestine Press). “On Either Side” appeared in the anthology Pigface and Other Stories (Margaret River Press, 2018) and “Unravelling” in The Big Issue Fiction Edition 2017. A poem “Three Unbearable Things” was included in the Grieve 6 anthology (Hunter Writers’ Centre).
“King of the Air” appeared in Sleepers Almanac no. 6: “a claustrophobic tale about a birdwatcher with ambiguously malevolent intentions”, Emmett Stinson Known Unknowns. “Extremely spooky,” Owen Richardson The Age.
“Navigating” was in The Great Unknown (ed. Angela Meyer) by Spineless Wonders: “a woman is led off track to a spooky but touching dead end” – Angela Meyer, “Not all the stories here are macabre. ‘Navigating’ by Helen Richardson is a light-hearted piece about a satnav that takes a mother of two teenagers to a grave site … The dynamic between long-suffering mother and spiky teenagers creates an amusing tone.” – Rachel Robertson ABR. “Whether lost, stolen, ignored or just sleeping for days, the ladies vanish … Helen Richardson’s Lucy lets her sat-nav guide her to confront her own gravestone.” – Kirsten Krauth, The Weekend Australian.
“Something from the Old School” was performed as part of Little Fictions, a live event run by Spineless Wonders and is available as part of the podcast Little Fictions On Air #1 “Dire Straits” at the Spineless Wonders website.
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