Inga Simpson – June 3 2018

World Environment Day – June 5

Inga has published novels, short stories, academic and non-fiction articles. Her first career was as a professional writer and researcher, including for federal Parliament and the Commonwealth Ombudsman. Inga holds a Masters in English Literature, a PhD in Creative Writing and a second PhD, in English Literature, through the University of Queensland, which explores the history of Australian nature writing and its potential as an environmental strategy. Inga grew up near Grenfell in central west NSW, and now lives among trees in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. She leads writing retreats, workshops and mentorships through Olvar Wood. Inga was a winner of the 2015 Queensland Writers’ Fellowship and also won the final Eric Rolls Nature Essay Prize. Her other novel is Nest, and she has recently published the memoir Understory: A Life with Trees, about her love of Australian nature and life with trees.

Mr Wigg
Hachette, 2013; ISBN 9780733637841
It’s the summer of 1971, not far from the stone-fruit capital of New South Wales, where Mr Wigg lives on what is left of his family farm. Mrs Wigg has been gone a few years now and he thinks about her every day. He misses his daughter, too, and wonders when he’ll see her again. He spends his time working in the orchard, cooking and preserving his produce and, when it’s on, watching the cricket. It’s a full life. Things are changing though, with Australia and England playing a one-day match, and his new neighbours planting grapes for wine. His son is on at him to move into town but Mr Wigg has his fruit trees and his chooks to look after. His grandchildren visit often: to cook, eat and hear his stories. And there’s a special project he has to finish … It’s a lot of work for an old man with shaking hands, but he’ll give it a go, as he always has.

Where the Trees Were
Hachette, 2016; ISBN 9780733634536
‘All in?’ Kieran pulled me up, and the others followed. We gathered around the bigger tree. No one asked Matty – he just reached up and put his right hand on the trunk with ours. Kieran cleared his throat. ‘We swear, on these trees, to always be friends. To protect each other – and this place.’ Finding those carved trees forged a bond between Jay and her four childhood friends and opened their eyes to a wider world. But their attempt to protect the grove ends in disaster, and that one day on the river changes their lives forever. Seventeen years later, Jay finally has her chance to make amends. But at what cost? Not every wrong can be put right, but sometimes looking the other way is no longer an option.