Author picture (Tracy Sorenson wearing glasses and smiling against a background of green shrubbery) found on her Charles Sturt University profile page.
Born of Brisbane, raised in Carnarvon, adopted by Sydney, settled in Bathurst Tracy Sorensen is an Australian writer, reviewer, video maker and PhD student. In her spare time she enjoys knitting and impersonating birds.
The Lucky Galah book cover. Vibrant pink feathers contrasted with grey feathers. Title in white.
Her debut fictional novel, The Lucky Galah through Picador, came out February 27th 2018. It is set in 1969 in a costal town in Western Australia set to play a huge part in the moon landing. Most texts that explore the moon landing in relation to Australia focus on the observatory in Parkes New South Wales. ‘The dish’ in Parks NSW has been described as the most successful scientific instrument ever built in Australia. Tracy takes a new approach focusing on the state she was raised in, Western Australia. But choosing a different state and town as the setting is far from the most unique aspect of this novel. The narrator is, it’s a flamin galah, mate.
No, I don’t mean an Alf Stewart style flamin galah, I mean a literal galah. The avian kind. This novel is Australian to it’s core. If you lick it, the ink probably tastes like vegemite (not a recommendation to lick books).
Tracy Sorensen also reviews through Netwon Review of books (clearly the most discerning place because I also review through them), writes for the Western Advocate, is a senior tutor and marker at Charles Sturt University, an academic with publications such as Bathurst’s 200 Plants and Animal Project in Fusion Journal and The Pouch of Douglas in the Medical Journal of Australia (an article I personally found very informative given the doctors constantly wanting to scan my pouch yet not telling me anything about what it is), and is currently doing her PhD in craftivism.
What’s craftivism? Glad you asked. Craftivism is a form of activism that centres around craft, particularly those linked with domesticity such as knitting and cross stitch. It’s a term that was coined in 2003 by Betsy Greer. Tracy Sorensen herself has knitted an entire set of her internal organs in support of ovarian cancer. In 2014 Tracy was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, crafting was one of her personal strategies for dealing with and communicating about her diagnosis. Her PhD focuses on how those skills can and have been transferred to climate change and how that can change communication.
Tracy Sorensen is also the president of the Bathurst Community Climate Action Network AND the River Yarners. The River Yarners are a craftivist group currently defending the Macquarie River. They are currently knitting a long wooly representation of the Macquarie River complete with animal embellishments. If you’re a keen knitter and a lover of the environment I’m sure they’d appreciate you knitting some platypus, echidnas, or of course some galahs for them.
When she’s not saving the world Tracy enjoys patting her dog and playing Artwiculate.
Image taken from Tracy’s agent Jacinta Di Mase’s page. Quote, ‘Editors are, like so many things I love, endangered. The Internet gives us unmediated access to audiences. Whatever brain explosion you’re having, you’re only a click away from putting it out there, complete with badly-placed commas (and worse, much worse).’ found on Tracy’s blog.
Find Tracy Sorensen’s website here.
Find Tracy’s blog here.
Find her on Twitter here.
Buy her book here or anywhere.
Read this beautiful piece by Tracy on farewelling a friend to cancer and her complicated relationship with teal here.
Learn more about Robinpedia here.
Learn more about me here.
Read about my views on being a dyslexic writer here.
Read about my thoughts on author branding here.
Write or Wrong 