Lucy Nelson

1. Please tell us a bit about yourself and your work.
I’m a writer of fiction and non-fiction. My new book Wait Here is a collection of short stories centering women who can’t, don’t or won’t have children.

2. Has writing always been a focus for you or was it a Plan B? 
I’m a writer first and foremost. I studied writing at RMIT in Melbourne, interned with a publishing house and, aside from my creative practice, have always had writing-adjacent day jobs such as teaching creative writing and working for writers’ festivals or arts funding bodies.

3. How do you explore ideas or find inspiration for your work?
I just stay curious and follow the threads of thought that are most interesting or unanswerable to me.

4. What does the process of writing involve for you?
I write every day. In the first stage of a new project, that looks like writing a high volume of words without overthinking. And then, when I have a full draft, the more frustrating stop and start and push and pull of editing begins.

5. And what does writing then also give you in return?
Writing is not therapeutic for me (at least, that’s not why I’m drawn to do it, but it can sometimes be a pleasant side effect!). It’s a craft and a skill set that I really enjoy honing. It’s also, increasingly, an important part of my livelihood.

6. Has seeing your work in print changed how you view yourself, and also how you view your NoMo status?
Not so much seeing the book in print, but writing it definitely helped me to reach new heights of acceptance.

7. Tell us about the wider reception that you’ve had to sharing your story - has it changed how others have viewed you and your identity as a non-parent?
The best thing about publishing this book has been hearing other people’s stories. When I go to events people love to have a chat and I’m discovering that everyone – kids or no kids – has a relationship to this topic. I’ve had a lot of women in their sixties and seventies tell me that their grown-up kids are deciding not to have children. I’ve had women in their twenties telling me that the idea of having children in the midst of a climate and economic crisis is simply too terrifying a thought to entertain.

It has possibly made my own non-parent status a little too central to my identity – at least for the length of my book tour and for as long as I am tasked with talking about this more publicly. I identify more strongly as a writer than as a childless woman. So I’m looking forward to getting back to my desk and writing about something else entirely!

8. How do you feel about the current representation of childless and/or childfree people in literature?
I think we’re seeing a positive shift towards more interesting representation. I’ve encountered a few female characters in books and films recently, whose childfree statuses are not an important or driving factor in their narratives, which is great. And I think characterisation of those women is starting to move away from the stereotype that childless women need to sacrifice something of their femininity in order to be believable. I’d still like to see more of that though.

9. What would you like the publishing world to know about non-parents, both as writers and readers, and our stories?
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10. What future plans do you have, especially for your writing?
Wait Here was the first in a two-book-deal with Simon & Schuster so I’m currently working on a novel about sisters, which should hit shelves in 2027.