I’ve always been a writer, for as far back as I can remember. Even in primary school I wrote - little plays, poems, stories - to release the pent-up feelings I had for characters, incidents and ideas, a need to let my imagination run rampant. Writing is a compulsion that continues today. In all my working life I never really considered writing as a career path, let alone a job; I was busy carving out creative work as an actor, physical performer and director. But, like a prodigal, I’ve always returned to it. It’s only in recent years that I’ve attended to writing prose in a more professional, purposeful way.

Last year I had the incredible good fortune to be shortlisted for the Richell Prize for Emerging Writers. My project - Cities of Refuge - is my first attempt at a novel and I am stoked to receive such a boost from Hachette Publishing, The Guardian and the Emerging Writers’ Festival. I hope to have a complete first draft of the manuscript by October 2021.

Below is an unedited excerpt from one of the early chapters.