About Kathryn Gossow

Kathryn Gossow has been writing and publishing short and flash fiction in a variety of genres since 2006.

She was told to choose a genre and stick to it. In the same way that she ignored her grade 9 science teacher, she ignored this advice. Her first novel Aurelias short-listed Cassandra is a mythic fiction retelling. Her second book, The Dark Poet is a collection of gritty short stories about the dangers of charismatic men. In real life, Kathryn loves many things. Jonquils, decaying buildings, sarsaparilla, lemon curd, cold winds, warm spring days, music festivals. True Crime. The ordinariness of life meets the extraordinary of crime. From this obsession springs her third book, a small-town thriller, Taking Baby for a Walk.

Kathryn is a co-editor of South of the Sun: Australian Fairy Tales for the 21st Century anthology and a keen explorer of fairy tales.

She adores flash fiction and has several short stories out in the world. Her short fiction has appeared in StylusLit, Gingerbread House, Black Magazine, AntipodeanSF, Diddle Dog, elimae, Salome Magazine, among other publications.

Her debut novel Cassandra was a finalist in the Aurealis Awards for Best Fantasy Novel in 2017. She was the winner of an ASA Mentorship, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and won a commendation for Flash Fiction from Australia Horror Writers’ Association.

Kathryn is a regular blogger and sometimes gardener of her two-acre garden in a pocket of the Brisbane River. When she is writing, her garden is a mess. When she is gardening, she forgets to write. It seems she cannot have both. She writes for that elusive feeling when she gets into the zone and there is nothing else in the world but her and the words that tumble onto the page. She gardens for the tomatoes.

Writing Awards

  • Cassandra finalist in the 2017 Best Fantasy Novel category of Aurealis Awards
  • Manuscript “Cassandra” was awarded a mentorship in the Australian Society of Authors Mentorship Program for 2014.
  • Nominated for Pushcart Prize, “Dance Home“, Cezanne’s Carrot, 2007
  • Commendation in Australian Horror Writers’ Association Flash Fiction Competition for “Stalker” in 2006

Short Stories and Flash Fiction

  • “The Cusp”, Conflux winner
  • “Memory Games,” in StylusLit, September 2018
  • “Turning the Corner,” Unsettling Wonder, December 2017
  • “Grandma’s House,” Gingerbread House, February 2017
  • “Devotees,” Crash Issue I, January 2010
  • “Soulmates,” Black: Australian Dark Culture, Issue 3, November 2008
  • “Cold Kiss,” Black Box Anthology, Brimstone Press, 2008
  • “Dance Home,” Cezanne’s Carrot, Summer Solstice, 2007
  • “Stalker,” Moonlit Path, October 2007
  • “Boys and Cars,” elimae, February 2008
  • “Women who do Lunch,” Salome Magazine, January 2008
  • “Reflections on a Town Bike,” Diddle Dog, Spring 2007
  • “The Applicant,” Antipodean SF, 2006 or hear it Beam Me UP
  • “Worm,'” Cezanne’s Carrot, Autumn Equinox 2006

For fun, she jumped out of a plane (only once)…

There’s an old blog too