Lucinda Birch

Lucinda Birch was born in 1962. She studied Fine Arts at Canterbury University 1980-83, majoring in photography, and has exhibited work throughout New Zealand.

Lucinda has been writing since the late 1980s. She has had short fiction published in New Women’s Press anthologies, Takahe, Jaam, and Sport. She was awarded an Artist in Residence at the Christchurch Art Centre in 2005, which resulted in The Arts Centre publishing a book, You Are Here, of her painted photographs and short stories. In 2013 her story Serena was a runner-up in the Goethe / Listener Grimm’s’ fairy tales competition.

Lucinda’s non-fiction essay The Swimming Pool won the Sunday Star Times Non-fiction Essay Competition in 2015, and was then published in the Sunday Star Times. In 2017 her piece Don’t Talk About It was long- listed for the Fish International Short Memoir Prize.

In 2018 Lucinda’s short story In a Bottle was chosen for Radio New Zealand’s Live Short Story Club, hosted by Jesse Mulligan at Wellington Litcrawl, where it was voted the best story of the night. She was subsequently interviewed by Jesse Mulligan on the 15th November broadcast of the Short Story Club on Radio New Zealand National.

Lost in a Fog was set up in 2020 by Lucinda to publish unusual limited-edition books. The first book Somewhere Else (Maps and Descriptions of Other Islands) was published in late 2020. 

Lucinda lives in rural Wairarapa.


Genre:

  • Adult Fiction
  • Non-Fiction
  • Short Stories
  • Science Fiction

Skills:

  • Illustration
  • Public Speaking
  • Readings (adults)
  • Short Story Writing

Branch:

Central Districts

Location:

Carterton

Publications:


Sunday Star Times (Newspaper)

Winner of the Sunday Star Times short non-fiction essay award 2015: The Swimming Pool

Sport 11, Sport 17, Sport 36 (1993, 1996, 2008)

Short stories: Owed to Spring (Sport 11) Fin (Sport 17) The Ghost of Blueskin Sound (Sport 36)

You Are Here

A book of short fiction and painted photographs. Published by The Art Centre of Christchurch, 2005, as a result of an Artist in Residence award.

Jaam 24

Short story: Under the Sun (2006)

New Women's Fiction 2,3,4

Short Stories: Birds (New Women's Fiction 2, 1988) After (New Women's Fiction 2, 1989) Swallow This (New Women's Fiction 3, 1989) Life in a Caldera (New Women's Fiction 4, 1991)

Somewhere Else

Limited edition hardback. Maps and descriptions of other islands. Pen-and-ink illustrations and short stories/parables. Published by Lost in a Fog 2020