Jacqui Smart

The eldest of seven children, I was born in Melbourne. My parents were first generation Australians. We moved to Tasmania when I was six.

In 1995 I travelled to Ireland, home of myths, legends and breathtaking beauty,  where I lived for two years. My jobs included setting up a community library in south-west Kerry, working at a sports sock factory making socks and barmaid. 

Following a return to Tasmania in 1997, I completed a Diploma in Library and Information Services, before moving to England for five years. Amongst the jobs I had there, my favourite was at Cheshire Archives and Local Studies. While working in Chester I obtained a Diploma in Archives and Records Management.

In 2004 I returned to Tasmania. After eleven years in Hobart as a public servant, I returned to Low Head, a beautiful seaside village in northern Tasmania. I have two sons and five grandchildren.

I published my first novel, Heart Urchins, in 2018. This was followed by a stand-alone, In Search of Kathleen, in 2019. The Scent of Remembrance was my next novel, published in 2020. In 2021, I wrote The Gift of Patience. In 2021 I also published a collection of short writing pieces called Beachcombing at Sandy Cove. In 2022 I published a collection of three of my novels called The Women of Sandy Cove. Puifín, launched in 2024, is a stand-alone novel.

I am currently working on a new novel set in Tasmania. Familiar characters, complete with back stories, will appear intermingled with new ones. Did I mention little white dogs?