Driftwood: An anthology of works by members of the Mackay-Pioneer Valley Arts Council Writers Group (Mackay Writers)

Writers from the east coast town of Mackay in the tropical north of Queensland, Australia, have penned their stories and poetry for this third anthology for their group. Themes cover a wide variety of subjects including the environment, romance, the human experience, science-fiction and fantasy, horror, and humour to name a few. Come and join these vast imaginary journeys with Jane Paulsen, Alexander Booth, Augustus Venselaar, Brooke McReynolds, Mary-Gabrielle Walsh, Krishna Elizabeth Fay, Bronwyn Grannall, Steve Reilly, Jennie Mack, Colin Hoy, Gay Liddington, Paul Vander Loos, Adam Cuskelly, Dr Mary McDougall, Kearin Goodwin, Shaun Woods and Jennifer Perry.

Like the title, Driftwood, the writers drift along the tides of life recording their imagined world view to bring entertainment and insights to the readers’ shores. Jane Paulsen puts herself into the shoes of a muse to inspire people to create great works; Alex Booth turns a hazardous drive through rain and snow into a suspense filled encounter with a suspicious stranger but all is not what it seems; Augustus Venselaar poses some sober thoughts on the Bali bombings while in another poem he turns a joke into verse; Brooke McReynolds transforms a hunt for an escaped prisoner into a serendipitous encounter with a famous personage; Mary-Gabrielle Walsh envelopes the reader in a wondrous fairy-tale world; Krishna Elizabeth Fay pays tribute to soldiers who died in a battle in WW1; Bronwyn Grannall returns to her days in Papua New Guinea helping to run a hotel and club; Steve Reilly poses a hypothetical journey through time to meet Beethoven, and in another story puts two men directly into the shoes of soldiers in a battle; Jennie Mack philosophises about taking care of the environment and ourselves; Colin Hoy takes a quirky horror romp through a graveyard; Gay Liddington contemplates growing old and struggling with cancer; Paul Vander Loos uses the metaphor of a dragon to describe a sugar mill, and writes an Australian style parody of a famous children’s verse; Adam Cuskelly discovers something sinister in the basement; Dr Mary McDougall takes a nostalgic journey into childhood; Kearin Goodwin has a disturbing encounter on a country road; Shaun Woods gives a lesson in showing courage in the face of fear; and Jennifer Perry takes a romantic waltz that turns the tables on a previous humiliation.