Book lovers can rejoice as Wagga welcomes an award-winning and internationally reclaimed author to the area for two weeks.
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Rashida Murphy arrived Monday to begin a two-week residency at Booranga Writers' Centre, where she will be hosting a writing workshop and will deliver a public reading of her work.
"When I applied for the residency I was working on my new and second novel, which I hoped to have finished by last year but life got in the way and I wasn't able to," Ms Murphy said.
"I'm really hoping the next two weeks I can work on that solidly.
"This is a really valuable and dedicated writing space; it's a beautiful cottage and I'm looking out at hills and trees and I woke up this morning to the sounds birds."
Ms Murphy's debut novel, The Historian's Daughter, was shortlisted in the Scottish Dundee International Book Prize in 2015 as well as publishing short fiction and poetry in international literary journals and anthologies.
"I don't often get the opportunity to spend time completely focused on writing and it's always valuable for me to go outside of my comfort zone," she said.
"It seems to free up some other part of the brain."
Ms Murphy said she was working "loosely" on her second novel, but did not want to give too much away.
"It's a work in progress and it changes so much, but at the moment it follows two women and their very long life," she said.
"These women live in two different countries and I've picked up their narratives from when they were five-years-old and I'm hoping to finish it when they are in their 90s."
The writing workshop is open to everyone and will be held at the centre on May 18, between 2pm to 4pm and her portfolio reading will be held May 22.