Selby author gasps at top awards

By Tania Martin
A SELBY author and cancer survivor will go head-to-head with some of Australia best short story writers in the prestigious 2006 Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards.
Michael de Valle said the event was the only competition in Australia that has a category for short stories.
He said the Short Story Collection Category offers a prize of $15,000 and is one of Australia’s most prestigious awards for a book of short stories. He also said it was a great honour to be short listed for the awards.
“This is the first time I’ve had a book entered in the awards and I’m delighted my book has been short listed.
“It’s always been a long term goal of mine to have a collection listed in the awards but I never expected to achieve this with my first book of stories,” he said.
Mr de Valle’s book, titled Take a Breath and Hold It, is a collection of nine stories which explore the themes of challenge and survival.
The former journalist was inspired to call his book Take a Breath and Hold It while having a CT scan at the Angliss Hospital after finishing six months of chemotherapy.
In a career spanning more than 20 years, Mr de Valle said it was not until he was going through cancer recovery that he started to take his writing seriously.
Trained as a registered nurse, he injured his back at work in 1996 and was forced to reassess his career options.
Turning to his love of writing, Mr de Valle started a journalism cadetship with the Mail in 1999, but was forced to resign after being diagnosed with colon cancer.
He said the inspiration for his stories comes from the lives of ordinary people facing extraordinary challenges.
Mr de Valle is now holding his breath for a different reason as he waits for the winners of the awards to be announced later this month.
Meanwhile, he is working on his second book of short stories, titled Going Home, which will be launched on Sunday, 15 October at Belgrave Library.