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.

Sean Crawley, Illustrated by Joshua Beaton 8/31/22 Sean Crawley, Illustrated by Joshua Beaton 8/31/22

The Big Wet, 1990

I don’t know what Rusty loved more: Jack, his cockatoo, or the shiny Pontiac parked in the garage of his two storey riverfront house…

Julie Aitchison, Illustrated by Cathi Ogden 8/30/22 Julie Aitchison, Illustrated by Cathi Ogden 8/30/22

My Beach, 1955

It was the fourth day of my misery. My two sisters felt the same. Why had our parents done this to us?

Deb McTaggart, Illustrated by Giorgia Chapman 8/26/22 Deb McTaggart, Illustrated by Giorgia Chapman 8/26/22

Finding Equilibrium

“My father had a gap between his front teeth that was filled with his grandmother’s gold.” Family stories are funny... They take on a truth beyond themselves.

Anna Intia, Illustrated by Shona Hawkins 8/25/22 Anna Intia, Illustrated by Shona Hawkins 8/25/22

Mama

Her gait was steady, her posture erect; her bright red nails and lipstick little vanities that belied her age…

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.

Cheryl Wingfield, Illustrated by Jane Gillings 6/23/22 Cheryl Wingfield, Illustrated by Jane Gillings 6/23/22

That Day!

…he said, ‘If you left the earth today it wouldn’t be a bad thing.” I just nodded my agreement. Now my life has changed forever!

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.

Barbara Allsop, Illustrated by Phavida Viphavady 6/10/22 Barbara Allsop, Illustrated by Phavida Viphavady 6/10/22

On Foreign Shores

…the beach inspector back home almost had a heart attack the day he arrived with his tape measure. Surely Club Med wasn’t as restrictive as 1970s Bondi Beach?

Mark d’Arbon, Illustrated by Ollie McDonald 3/29/19 Mark d’Arbon, Illustrated by Ollie McDonald 3/29/19

A Toowoon Bay Experience

I paddled out. The closer I came to the break, the larger it seemed. I was nervous as I positioned myself for a perfect take-off…