It’s great to start the New Year with a short story publication. This time it’s my story Dustcloud which was longlisted for an Australian literary competition Minds Shine Bright in 2023.

The story has been published online by Trasna magazine, an online journal of writing from Ireland and the Irish diaspora.

Dustcloud is a story that was first told to me by my mother, but I transported it to England and Australia, to see what it would look like in another setting.

It’s about a young couple who encounter a dustcloud when they’re on a walk in the country. The young woman breaks off their engagement without any explanation, and I wanted to explore the reason why she would do that.

You can read the story online by clicking on the link below, so I hope you enjoy it!

https://trasna.online/mauk-donnabhain/

Note: the image is a reproduction of Sidney Nolan’s painting Inferno I – Nolan was a very talented Australian painter, and I felt this image was a good fit for my story.

I’m re-using a low-resolution image with the fair use principle, but also because I want to highlight Nolan’s work. You can see the original at the Tate Gallery in London upon request.