A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Every year I wait for your short stories to start arriving. I wonder how you will interpret the theme and how many entries we will get, and
nervously check that we are well prepared to start reading them — I can tell you that the Country Style Short Story Competition needs to be run with military precision as the entries begin to pour in. Congratulations to our winner Suzannah Churchman, who started to write again after a seven-year break. “I hope that this competition continues to encourage women to pick up their creativity wherever they left it before life intervened,” said the mum of three after we broke the news of her win. To read Suzannah’s story, The Hidden Light, turn to page 138. During the cold, dark days of August, I start to dream of summer and often think of the childhood holidays my family spent on the NSW South Coast. Days filled with swimming, fishing, learning how to use a boat and eating far too many Golden Gaytimes, just like Annabelle Hickson’s four-year-old daughter, Harriet. Annabelle’s story on page 98 about the coastal town of Yamba, NSW, transported me back to those days. We’d better book our holiday accommodation in Yamba as soon as possible, because after reading her Journey story, I think many of us will want to get in the car and start driving there right now! Another place I’d like to visit is Adam Bantock and Brooke Sainsbery’s Clementine Restaurant in the little country town of Yass, just under an hour’s drive from Canberra. Here, the locals have embraced having a chef who celebrates regional produce, and Adam is loving the lifestyle after years in busy city kitchens. “I can walk the kids to school and work a country restaurant week, which is four days in seven. It gives us family time, which is precious,” he says. I’m sure you’ll enjoy his recipes on page 78.