Beaudesert author Nerelie Teese is releasing her latest book Sense of Place – Stories About Community & Belonging, which contains a series of short stories that represent communities coming to life.
The spark for Sense of Place ignited during March 2023 when Nerelie attended Dalby’s Words out West festival.
“That morning, I had breakfast at the Coffee Club very early, sitting out on the footpath with my coffee and watching the town wake up,” Nerelie said.
“There were businessmen and women opening businesses, putting stock out on the footpath, talking and I just thought ‘I’m actually seeing this town come to life’ – I grabbed a serviette and a pen and started writing.”
Nerelie was inspired by the sense of community displayed at Dalby after simply watching the morning of the town.
“If I hadn’t been there, having my coffee just watching the town wake up, the book probably would have never happened,” she said.
The cover photo for Sense of Place displays a main street edited to suit Nerelie’s vision of what her collection of short stories portray.
“Once they gave me the basic, I knew what I wanted,” she said.
“I’m sure the art department were doing handstands when I said ‘yes, you’ve got it; you’ve nailed it, it’s perfect’.”
Nerelie has previously written three non-fiction biographical books and was interested to write in short-story format.
“I like the creativity of vocabulary, of language, of image – I respect those people who came out of that pen,” she said.
“Even though it’s a collection of short stories, there’s more than one thread running through them; it’s not a random selection.”
“There is that common thread of that place, of the community, of the people, of the town, of the river – they created themselves as they grew.,” she added.
Sense of Place is written for people who appreciate the deep connections they have with the community and with one another.
“The demographic for this is older people who will look at the cover and go ‘oh, that’s like the main street in town that I grew up in’ – it will speak to memories, and they’re important,” she said.
“People will create their own meanings from Sense of Place, either based on life experiences, or family histories, or whatever – If one person reads their book and enjoys it, what more can you ask for?”
