ABOUT JANEY

Janey Runci is a fiction writer living and working in Melbourne. Her short stories have been published in various literary journals and anthologies. She has won prizes and/or been shortlisted in national and international awards, including the The Age, Bridport and Fish Short Story competitions. Recent story publications include: ‘The Silver Sandwich Night’ in the anthology, ‘Crush: stories about love’, and ‘The Red Scarf’ in ‘Grieve Anthology 2019’.

In 2021 her story, ‘The Man from Saint Jude’s’ was published in the anthology, ‘Signs of Life’. Janey has been awarded an Australia Council Writers Project Grant and was shortlisted for a Varuna Writers Centre Partnership in Publishing award in 2015, and a Varuna Writers Fellowship in 2016. In 2021 she completed the final draft of a collection of linked stories, ‘River, Winding Through’ and is now seeking publication. She is also president of the Henry Handel Richardson Society of Australia.

In 2017 and 2019 Janey and other members of the Society travelled to Germany and Britain to follow in the footsteps of Richardson, one of Australia’s most significant fiction writers. Janey produces the Society newsletters to further explore her interest in these Richardson ‘sites’ in Australia and Germany and Britain, and the significance of literary ‘pilgrimages’ and ‘shrines’.

In 2022 she wrote and co-produced the second app for a Henry Handel Richardson Walking Tour – ‘Henry Handel Richardson in Koroit – and is now working on the third one on Richardson in Maldon. Apart from promoting the work of Richardson, the Society also aims to promote and support the work of current Australian writers. To this end the Society offers a biennial fellowship in short story writing in partnership with Varuna, the national writers centre in Katoomba, NSW. For information on this award go to the Varuna website or to the Henry Handel Richardson Society website.

What attracted you to the space and what makes it suitable for your practice?

“I use my space as a sanctuary and refuge for uninterrupted writing. I use the notice board on one wall for visual material related to what I’m working on at the time. The long desk on another wall is great for spreading material out and ordering. During the Henry Handel Richardson Society Writing competitions I used the space as a room for the pre-reading and selection of entries for the final judging process.”