Aussie pick: 'Wending'
The X account AustralianBooks highlighted 'Wending' by Bel Hawley as an Australian pick this week, flagging it for readers looking for recent local fiction (AustralianBooks). (x.com). The post is part of a steady flow of regional recommendations circulating this week. (x.com)
AustralianBooks put Bel Hawley’s *Wending* in front of readers this week, adding the 2025 verse novella to a running stream of Australian fiction picks on X. (x.com) *Wending* was published on June 23, 2025 by ECG Press, with Australian retailers listing it as an 82-page paperback under ISBN 9781763689213. (angusrobertson.com.au) The book follows a newly widowed woman sent to a river “so remote it has no official name,” and several listings describe it as a novella in verse centered on survival, grief and isolation. (goodreads.com, readings.com.au) That form matters to how the book is being pitched. Readings calls it “a novella in verse,” while Hawley’s own site says her recent work has turned toward contemporary fiction about “lost people and things.” (readings.com.au, belhawley.com) Hawley is an Australian writer based in Victoria with a Bachelor of Arts from Curtin University and a Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing from NMIT, according to author and retailer biographies. Those biographies also say she was a WoMentoring Project mentee and a Glenfern Writers’ Studios resident before publishing *Wending*. (belhawley.com, books.google.com) Promotional material around the book ties the story closely to Hawley’s own life. Australian Book Lovers says Hawley’s “lived experience of widowhood” inspired *Wending*, and advance-copy material described the book as a debut with 68 pages before final retail listings settled at 82 pages. (australianbooklovers.com, booksirens.com) The recommendation also lands in a crowded Australian books ecosystem where stores and literary sites keep dedicated shelves for local writing. Readings maintains a standing page for “new Australian books,” and Australian Book Lovers describes its role as promoting Australian and Indigenous authors across genres. (readings.com.au, australianbooklovers.com) For readers coming to the post cold, the clearest takeaway is simple: *Wending* is a recent Australian release, short, poetic and grief-focused, and it is now being recirculated as a local-fiction recommendation rather than arriving as a brand-new publication. (x.com, angusrobertson.com.au)
