Published on Tuesday, 8 September 2026 at 1:59:17 PM
Albany Public Library will welcome award-winning author and former ABC journalist and broadcaster Gillian O’Shaughnessy for two special literary events on Thursday, September 10.
Celebrating flash fiction and the release of her publication, Salt City Runaway, O’Shaughnessy will lead a Flash Fiction Masterclass for writers of all experience levels from 10am to 12pm.
The fun and practical workshop will explore how specific details, careful observation and personal experiences can be transformed into vivid and emotionally resonant fiction.
Participants will learn techniques for paying closer attention to the world around them, drawing inspiration from memories and everyday experiences, and discovering the power of telling compelling stories in very few words.
From 5.30pm to 6.30pm, O’Shaughnessy will return for an In-Conversation event exploring her writing career and recently published collection.
Unsettling, urgent and imaginative, Salt City Runaway draws on memories, vivid imaginings and Western Australian landscapes to explore the fierceness and frailty of human experience.
Set around the seas and salt lakes of Western Australia during the 1970s and 1980s, the collection features landscapes from the South-West, Great Southern and Goldfields, with stories examining isolation, community and ecological damage.
Albany Public Library Team Leader Soraya Majidi said the two events offered the community a rare opportunity to learn directly from one of Australia’s leading flash fiction writers.
“Gillian brings an incredible depth of experience as an award-winning writer, journalist and broadcaster, and we’re delighted to welcome her to Albany Public Library,” she said.
“The masterclass is a fantastic opportunity for local writers to develop their skills, while the evening conversation will give readers an insight into Gillian’s creative process and the Western Australian places, people and memories that have shaped Salt City Runaway.”
O’Shaughnessy’s short fiction has been selected for the international Best Small Fictions in 2023, 2024 and 2025, and has received awards and recognition in Australia, the United Kingdom and United States.
Copies of Salt City Runaway will be available to purchase at the evening event, followed by a book signing.
Both events will be held at Albany Public Library on Thursday, September 10. Bookings are essential.
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