Helen Lyne
Paperback June 2021
An elderly dying woman is taken surfing by her carer.
A young Australian traveller receives a marriage proposal at an oasis in Algeria.
Disarming a violent student inspires a teacher to leave her abusive husband.
A grandmother-to-be rejoices in her first one-night stand.
Themes in this collection of thirty-one stories include the birth and death of love, bullying, separation from loved ones and isolation in old age. The characters kick over the rock of life’s disappointments and discover freedom, joy, love, laughter and well-satisfied lust.
During a career spanning nearly forty years, Helen taught French and English in Melbourne, Sydney, Winnipeg on the Canadian prairies and Reims in the Champagne area of France. Her poetry writing began with silly poems about her students to corral their attention in class. Since retiring from teaching, she has travelled extensively, worked as an extra in film and television and presented satirical and self-send-up poetry at open mics.
Her short stories have been written on café terraces in Paris, film sets in Australia and oases in the Sahara. Unsurprisingly, her themes include the impact of students and teachers on each other’s lives.
Her first collection of stories, Love, Disappointment and Other Joys of Life, was published in June 2021 and is available from Ginninderra Press and online outlets.
Helen lives on the Northern Beaches of Sydney with Caterina, her feline muse who ghost-writes her performance poems.
www.ginninderrapress.com.au or www.helenlyne.com.au