Fleur has always written stories. She writes about the small things; ants in the grass, leaves on the footpath and the possums on her balcony.
She developed her writing in workshops at the CAE and Writers Victoria, in writing groups in pubs around Melbourne and during a Residential Fellowship and an Advanced Memoir Focus Week residency at Varuna. She has been a member of a writing group meeting for nearly twenty years..
She studied Psychology at Melbourne University and Art at Preston Institute of Technology.
She has worked in kitchens, in the back of a truck catering, in a women’s centre, in hospitals, as a data card puncher and as a hopeless cleaner.
In 2019 her unpublished manuscript, Nina and Pearl was shortlisted for the Banjo Prize for an unpublished manuscript, in 2020 it was runner up in the ASAHQ Commercial Fiction Prize and in 2021 longlisted for the Hawkeye Publishing Manuscript Development Prize. In 2025 it was Highly Recommended in the Unpublished Manuscript category of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award.
She has three adult children and lives alone in Naam/Melbourne and spends hours walking along the banks of the Merri Creek.
Nina and Pearl is set to be released in 2027.
What inspired you to be a writer?
I come from a literary family. My sister Diana was a publisher. She was fifteen years older than me and inspired me to write from a very young age. She read to me, suggested books for me to read and gave me recordings of poets reading their own works. I worshipped her.
I never told her that I wrote stories as I didn’t want her to feel any obligation to help me with publication.
What prompted you to write 'Nina and Pearl'?
Fifteen years ago I lived in Brunswick Heads in NSW with my daughter and granddaughter. I spent hours writing at a park bench next to the Brunswick River creating the characters of Nina, Pearl and Forrest for my novel. At the time the town was home to many struggling single mothers. I began to imagine what would happen if one of them left their child as it was all too hard.
Do you have any more books in the pipeline?
I have two books calling out to me to finish them. One is based on my childhood growing up in the 60s and 70s in Melbourne, and the other is about an imaginary road trip with my autistic grandson.
What is your professional background?
I studied Psychology at university and worked in the area for a short time. Then I studied Art. After having children, I worked as a dishwasher in the back of a truck, a bicycle courier, in a Women’s drop in centre and as a pretty hopeless cleaner.
After all this I settled into admin work in schools, hospitals, Gamblers Help and then at Melbourne Sexual Health Centre.
Any advice you’d like to give to aspiring writers?
Just sit down and write. Don’t worry about what it’s like as you can edit later. Read your work out aloud as it’s the best way to pick up faults and to see how it flows.
Who/what inspires you?
My fellow writers in my writing group inspire me; their writing is brilliant. They write because they love it and they see the world in wild, wonderful ways.
My children are my main inspiration. Life is hard for them and they keep plodding on, one step at a time, supporting each other and the communities around them.
What are your hobbies, interests and favourite books?
I used to have a market stall at the Rose street market in Fitzroy where I was The Leaf Collector. I sold bunting painted with leaves and framed heart shaped leaves that I found. During the pandemic I began knitting leaves on tiny needles with fine wool. I have thirty of them on my wall.
I love all books by Sarah Waters, Patrick Gale and Maggie O’Farrell.
My two favourite books would have to be:
The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
How can readers contact you?
Instagram: @leafcollector
Facebook: Fleur Glenn
