INVERLOCH-BASED writer Lucas Smith will release his debut short story collection, Spare Us Yet & Other Stories, at the end of June through Wiseblood Books, a US-based independent publisher known for its literary and spiritually rich catalogue.
Lucas, whose work has appeared in Meanjin, Island, Australian Book Review, Gippslandia and more, has strong ties to the Gippsland region. “Several of the stories in the book are set locally,” said Lucas, “including one during the Black Saturday fires in Inverloch and another—a long sequence—based on the historical mystery of the ‘white woman of Gippsland’ in the 1840s.”
The 16-story collection is written on moments and experiences, some of which Lucas experienced himself, and others are fiction on what may have been. Lucas writes about rural Victoria, pandemic-era Melbourne, spiritual doubt, social isolation, and family dynamics. “There’s a thread of spiritual searching throughout,” Lucas said. “The stories are contemporary, apart from the historical ones, and many reflect the kind of spiritual vacuum people are living through—whether they know it or not.”
The book’s journey to publication has a story of its own. After submitting an early version to Wiseblood in 2023, the publisher offered Lucas a unique opportunity in their book residency, a program for promising manuscripts. “They put me up in a cabin in Boolara,” he says, “and I worked one-on-one with their editor for 10 days. It was mostly structural editing—clarifying certain elements, cutting weaker stories, and shaping it into something tighter.”
Wiseblood’s alignment with the book was also important to Lucas. “They’re Catholic-flavoured but not tied to the institutional church—it’s more of a sensibility. They understood my work, which does touch on religious themes. It just felt like the right time.”
The collection ranges in length and tone. Some stories span just a few pages, while others stretch longer. A standout piece is a fictional interpretation of the 19th-century “white woman of Gippsland” mystery. “It’s told from three perspectives,” Lucas said. “One in the present day, one from the lost woman herself, and one from the colonial search party.”
Another emotionally resonant story is set in Inverloch during Black Saturday. Lucas explained staying with older relatives who resisted offers of help during the extreme heat. “There’s this generational thing about not accepting assistance,” he says. “I wanted to capture that dynamic—the quiet kind of pride.”
The pandemic looms large over several stories, too. “There’s one about a man who refuses to get vaccinated and just wanders around Sydney in this peaceful solitude,” Lucas said. “Others are about restricted funerals, COVID-sceptic gatherings, and tensions in small church communities over masks.”
While Smith doesn’t think he’s ready to tackle a full COVID-era novel, another story collection is slowly in the works. In the meantime, he’s also launched a Substack called The Sprawl of Quality, a play on the Les Murray poem "The Quality of Sprawl,” where he writes on short fiction and literature. “It’s not necessarily for my fiction,” he said, “but a platform for writing.”
The book launch is booked for 3 pm, Saturday, August 2, at Dirty Three Winery, Inverloch. “I’m grateful for the local support,” he said. “These stories are grounded in our landscape, in our people. I hope readers here see themselves in them.”
Spare Us Yet & Other Stories will be available in print and online through Wiseblood Books in late June.