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…

Adam Palmer, Illustrated by Gigi Gribble 8/3/22 Adam Palmer, Illustrated by Gigi Gribble 8/3/22

Heart and Sand

I know a place

By the sea

So many precious memories

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.

Sandra Lipman, Illustrated by Amelia Fox 8/3/22 Sandra Lipman, Illustrated by Amelia Fox 8/3/22

Listen To Me

I was in bumper to bumper traffic, crawling along the wet roads on the way to dropping my grandson at school. I wondered if his life's journey would be as incredible as his uncle Mick’s had been.

Liz Shaw, Illustrated by Charlotte Orr, Ella Cunningham & Zoe Herbery 8/3/22 Liz Shaw, Illustrated by Charlotte Orr, Ella Cunningham & Zoe Herbery 8/3/22

A Moment That Changed Everything

It was time to move. We lived on the South Coast and had just sold our beach house. There were so many great memories there, but a new chapter was beginning.

Margaret Berryman, Illustrated by Charlotte Lee & Kynan Barnes 8/3/22 Margaret Berryman, Illustrated by Charlotte Lee & Kynan Barnes 8/3/22

Old Relics

I was a parent helper on our primary school excursion to the Powerhouse Museum and knew very well these strange antiques that the children found so fascinating.

Beverley Campbell, Illustrated by Channon Lawson 8/3/22 Beverley Campbell, Illustrated by Channon Lawson 8/3/22

All it Took Was One Dance

He’s here again. He stands out amongst the short-back-and-sides men in camouflage, clutching girls, swaying to the music…

Noel Peters, Illustrated by Austin Wright-Barnes 6/24/22 Noel Peters, Illustrated by Austin Wright-Barnes 6/24/22

The Favourite Part Of My Day

Ah, sunset, dusk, twilight, with its myriad colours — blazing reddish orange, morphing into hues of pink and purple and turquoise…

Barbara d’Arbon, Illustrated by Lily Paver 6/17/22 Barbara d’Arbon, Illustrated by Lily Paver 6/17/22

Flying

When I was a little kid, I had the idea that I could fly if I flapped my arms really, really quickly. I believed that other people simply hadn’t flapped fast enough.

Constance Lewis, Illustrated by Michayla VanderPool & Anna Kastelan 6/17/22 Constance Lewis, Illustrated by Michayla VanderPool & Anna Kastelan 6/17/22

The Board

As I walked along the shores of Booker Bay, I noticed a cutting board amongst the driftwood and debris left by the floods. Where did it come from? Who had used it and for what purpose?

Nicole Sutherland 6/10/22 Nicole Sutherland 6/10/22

Rising from the Ashes

I turned around to see my entire street filled with the firetruck’s blue and red lights, bouncing off every house in the still darkness of morning…