Helen Lyne
writer, spoken word poet
Welcome to my website.
My stories and novels are set in my favourite travel destinations and in the cities where I’ve taught: Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, Winnipeg on the Canadian prairies and Reims in the Champagne area of France. I write fiction, work occasionally in movies and live near one of Sydney’s Northern Beaches with Caterina, my feline muse, who ghost-writes my performance poetry.
Love, Disappointment and Other Joys of Life
My collection of short stories is available from Ginninderra Press, Desire Books in Manly and online outlets.
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.
The people in these and other stories contend with increasing age, bullying by students, teachers and parents, the impossibility of some relationships and the desolation that can occur within marriage. They kick over the rock of life’s disappointments and discover freedom, confidence, joy, love and well-satisfied lust.
Available Now!
See the review by Paige Turner on page 60 of the Sydney Northern Beaches magazine, The Tawny Frogmouth.
The Society of Women Writers NSW magazine, Women’s Ink! Spring/Summer 2022 edition featured a review by Pip Griffin. View it here.
Love, Disappointment and Other Joys of Life received a Commended in the Society of Women Writers NSW, National Writing Competition, Members Book Awards, 2022
Presenting a poem at an Open Mic night, or a similar stand-up event is something I enjoy doing. Humans and others who grab hold of the mic all have attitude, whether they be a four-year-old, a seventy-four-year-old, a koala or a fly. Each has a thing or two to say about life and the audience had better listen up! You can read some of my work on my Poems page page.
I have two chapbooks of performance poems which are available from Desire Books in Manly and from me at the venues where I perform.
If you explore this website you’ll find extracts from works that I enjoyed writing and that I hope you’ll enjoy reading. Get in touch with me if you have any questions or would like to see more of my writing or live events.