Appointment Northwest

Appointment Northwest is the autobiography/memoir of a young teacher appointed to a one-teacher school at Jeogla on the New England Tablelands in the 1960s: an appointment that leads to the discovery of people, places and poetry.

Jeogla, like Walden for Henry David Thoreau, becomes a sanctuary, a retreat for the observation of the natural world, the high country with its mountains, rivers, waterfalls and wildlife; it stirs the awakenings of self-reliance.

Included in the narrative is the story of a family's tragedy and a broken promise – the consequences of which reverberate for many years until they are resolved by the healing process of Time. Or are they?

About the author

Peter Skrzynecki has published nineteen books of poetry and prose.

He has won several literary prizes including the Grace Leven Poetry Prize and the Henry Lawson Short Story Award.

In 1989 he was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit by the Polish government, and in 2002 he received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his contribution to multicultural literature.

His memoir The Sparrow Garden was shortlisted for the National Biography Award.

He is an adjunct associate professor in the School of Humanities and Languages at the University of Western Sydney.