Helen Lyne
writer, spoken word poet
Short Stories
From a grandmother behaving scandalously in a kindergarten classroom to a young woman receiving a marriage proposal while jumping off a chicken-laden bus in Algeria, my stories place ordinary people in extraordinary, sometimes ridiculous situations and show how they cope with their own and others’ frailties.
I don’t write autobiography, but I enjoy setting my stories in places that I know: schools, film sets, Paris, Luxor, Atlanta, GA, Manly Beach…
My story, A Perfect Couple, was included in fourW thirty-one, the annual anthology of the Booranga Writers’ Centre, Wagga Wagga, 2020.
Turnabouts
Enjoy reading these selected excerpts from my stories below.
Unlocking Doors
Intro blurb here
Thundering Curtains and Billowing Surf
Intro blurb here
Love, Disappointment and Other Joys of Life
Enjoy reading theser selected excerpts from my stories below.
Film Sets
The Australian Taxation Office defines me as an actor. A polite film director would call me a background artist. A harassed third assistant director would call me an extra. As an extra, with no more required of me than to arrive on time and do what I’m told, I have the privileged position of being a fly on the wall.
Better off Dead is based on observation. It’s not autobiographical. On most shoots, the extras have to sign a confidentiality agreement.
Schools
The school settings of some of my stories reflect the bigger world outside. A year 8 History class torments a teacher. A successful businessman gives a job interview to a man who bullied him when they were in primary school.
A Gentleman and a Scholar won first prize in The Stringybark Short Story Awards in 2017 and gave its title to the collection of award-winning stories.
Cats
Some of the great loves of my life have been cats. Please don’t stop reading if you’re not a cat lover. I like dogs too! Although not protagonists, cats often wander into my stories.
Manly NSW
My story, Your Last Winter, was chosen for publication in In the Depths of Winter: Better Read than Dead Winter Writing Competition 2018.