The Clarence Valley has a beautiful new book hitting the shelves this week featuring 45 homegrown writers and illustrations by Junction Hill artist, Yohanna Dent.

Stories from the Clarence Valley 2019 – To The Island, features stories written by Clarence Valley people of all ages. The stories represent outstanding entries to the annual Long Way Home writing competition.

‘We’re really proud of this book,’ said Long Way Home co-founder Erin Brady. ‘The Clarence Valley is full of creative people. A huge amount of imagination, effort, and skill has gone into these stories. The result is a rich collection that’s infused with a sense of the Clarence River in all its moods.”

This year, the theme for the competition was ‘to the island’.

Long Way Home co-founder Claire Aman said she were thrilled to see so many different approaches to the theme, all with their own magic.

“Islands mean different things to different people,” Claire said.  “We had virtual islands, dangerous islands, beloved islands and threatened islands. We had lives saved, lives lost, disasters and near-disasters, mystery, history and beauty from writers of all ages.”

This is the second year The Long Way Home project has released a collection of short stories by Clarence Valley writers. Last year the book sold out in one week.

Claire said they’ve been able to print more books this year, thanks to support from the Yugilbar Foundation, Bendigo Bank South Grafton Community Bank Branch and Westlawn Insurance Brokers, to make sure everyone gets a copy.

“Last year so many people gave the book as a Christmas present,” Claire said.

“It’s a wonderful gift because it supports local writers, young and old, but it also reflects the stories, themes and landscapes of our region so it’s a great gift to give anyone with a connection to the Clarence Valley.”

The book is available at Grafton Book Warehouse, South Grafton News and Gifts, The Nook Yamba and Café Angourie.