Welcome to the Central Coast Writes Anthology 2022, a collection of personal stories written and illustrated by local residents.

These stories share a deep connection to place and they tell us more about who we are on the Central Coast. The writers engaged their emotions and all of their senses to create vivid, moving accounts from the heart of our community.

Here you’ll find true stories told with honesty and creative flair about love, loss, heroism, challenges, and those tender moments that last a lifetime.

Seeing the care and attention that the talented illustrators have brought to the stories is heart-warming and demonstrates the power of creative collaboration.

To all those who dared to create, remember and record: It has been an honour to guide you in this experience and a joy to edit your words. Let’s do it all again next year!

- Adrienne Ferreira, Director of Central Coast Writes.

Faye Kepper, Illustrations by Knoa Casey Fernandez & Ben Stewart 8/28/22 Faye Kepper, Illustrations by Knoa Casey Fernandez & Ben Stewart 8/28/22

Return to Terrigal Beach

I imagine the sand at Terrigal Beach sifting through my toes. I am about four years old, in my knitted swimming costume in 1942…

Sue Chizzoniti, Illustrated by Natalie Powles 8/3/22 Sue Chizzoniti, Illustrated by Natalie Powles 8/3/22

What is a Community?

At first I thought a community was just a place, an area where you lived. It wasn’t until I had my own home and family that I began to realise what it meant to belong to a community.

Carol Campbell, Illustrated by Jo Francis 8/3/22 Carol Campbell, Illustrated by Jo Francis 8/3/22

My Caesarean Journey

I knew my OB was right, but I felt so disappointed, and scared of having the surgery. Also, I wondered how well the baby would bond with me. I was already feeling like a bad mother.

Cal Stewart, Illustrations by Amelie Pothoff & Lauren Pothoff 8/3/22 Cal Stewart, Illustrations by Amelie Pothoff & Lauren Pothoff 8/3/22

Providence or Pure Chance

Commos, we called them. Ruskies, under every bed, everywhere! At least that’s what we were told.

R.M. Kissing, Illustrated by Luke Rees 8/3/22 R.M. Kissing, Illustrated by Luke Rees 8/3/22

Now You See Me...

It all began when we decided to downsize and sell our old house. We thought the sooner we found a nice new place, the better.

Sherry Burrows, Illustrated by Kathy Evans 6/10/22 Sherry Burrows, Illustrated by Kathy Evans 6/10/22

MacMasters Beach

I sit on a boulder meditating, eyes closed, breathing rhythmically, listening to the sound of the ocean and evening birdsong. I have this, all of this, to myself most evenings.

Wolfgang Gebhardt, Illustrated by Donné Restom 6/10/22 Wolfgang Gebhardt, Illustrated by Donné Restom 6/10/22

North Avoca Beach – Sunday Morning, January, 1983

We loved North Avoca beach. It was a long weekend and I knew we were building memories that would last a lifetime.

Carole Thorley, Illustrated by Linda Van Hove 6/10/22 Carole Thorley, Illustrated by Linda Van Hove 6/10/22

Observations From The Charity Shop

…from the wonderful to the hideous, from brand new, to the old and worn out. You can tell a lot about a person from their op shop drop offs.

Lesley Nord, Illustrated by Toby Steenbergen 6/10/22 Lesley Nord, Illustrated by Toby Steenbergen 6/10/22

Picketts Valley

Home at last, across the causeway lined on each side with bamboo. Luckily it isn’t underwater this time; we’ve had a lot of rain…

John Murray, Illustrations by Ajay de Gruchy & John Murray 3/12/19 John Murray, Illustrations by Ajay de Gruchy & John Murray 3/12/19

The Red Kite

I turn and she is standing there alone. Daypack on, water bottle in hand and hat on her head… I ask, "Do you want to make a kite?"

Kerry-Anne McLachlan, Illustrated by Dylan de Gruchy 3/12/19 Kerry-Anne McLachlan, Illustrated by Dylan de Gruchy 3/12/19

A Moment Can Change Everything

I’m not an early morning person. This morning was the moment I decided to change that. My mission was set.

Fleur Phillips, Illustrated by Chloe Stewart 3/12/19 Fleur Phillips, Illustrated by Chloe Stewart 3/12/19

Beginnings

…there were no fences, nappies dried between the trees and the boys roamed with their neighbours, no barriers to their adventure play.