Michelle Lopert was born in New York , the same year that Stalin died. Her family emigrated to Australia the year that John F Kennedy was assassinated. Although the two events are unrelated, politics, social justice and macabre coincidence play a part in her writing. Michelle is a physiotherapist but confesses to once growing watermelons in the Tanami Desert and marrying a mad artist. Her unpublished novel “Vermeer's Chair” is still floating in the cosmos and has compelled her to write short stories instead. A weary nomad, having lived in forty different places, home is now a rural setting on the Mid-North Coast of NSW.

She won first prize in the Far North Coast FAW short story competition last year with a macabre story called Troubled Waters. She also had some ‘Highly Recommended's in the same competition, and in the Tarralla short story competition.

To read Michelle's winning entry "Veronica's Chook ", click here.