Image of Author Patrick McGowan

About
Patrick McGowan

In the past, I have worked as metallurgist, health food retailer, government bureaucrat, diplomat and entrepreneur. I began short story fiction writing in the nineties, had some short stories published, then put my writing on hold as I gave full attention to my diplomatic career. While my work overseas for the Australian government took me on postings to many places including Europe, Asia and Africa, the outcome is that I seek to write about the contemporary Australian experience. I completed a Master of Creative Arts (Prose) at the University of Wollongong in 2011 and have been writing full time since then. I am a taiji health exercise enthusiast and an avid jade collector. I am also a keen follower of William Gass and his theory of sentence writing, that each sentence has a soul, and all good literature comes from the well-constructed sentence. I live in Loftus, a suburb of Sydney, and am a member of the South Coast Writers Centre.