Thoraiya Dyer is a four-time Aurealis Award-winning, three-time Ditmar Award-winning, Sydney-based Australian writer. Her work has appeared in Clarkesworld, Apex, Cosmos, Analog and pretty much every FablecCroft anthology. Her collection of four original stories, Asymmetry, is available from Twelfth Planet Press and her debut novel, Crossroads of Canopy, first in the Titan’s Forest trilogy, is forthcoming from Tor books in 2017.

Dyer is represented by the Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency. She is a member of SFWA. A qualified veterinarian, her other interests include bushwalking, archery and travel. Find her online at Goodreads, Twitter (@ThoraiyaDyer) or www.thoraiyadyer.com.

My In Your Face story, “Where the Pelican Builds Her Nest”, came from the collision of two emotions. One, my glumness that wildlife, so glorious when allowed to thrive in pristine wilderness, can be as corrupted by the environmental degradation of our cities as human beings are. Two, my anger that TV rapists are so often depicted as strangers.

When I think of pelicans, I want to think of them sailing in proud flotillas across the sapphire waters of Port Stephens in NSW, scavenging guts from recreational fisherpeople at worst!

Statistics from the ABS tell us that when we think of rapists, we should think, 68% of the time, about somebody known to the victim. I think of the brother-in-law from “A Streetcar Named Desire” and how the sister stays with him in the end. That a scenario from a play written in 1947 remains probable is angry-making to me.

The title of the story comes from the poem by Mary Hannay-Foott, “Where the Pelican Builds Her Nest,” which I love for its movement and imagery even though it’s about white settlement and all the disease, death and displacement implied in that process. You can read the poem at Bushverse here.

If Thoraiya has sparked your interest in the In Your Face anthology and the powerful stories it contains, you might like to support the crowdfunding campaign by pre-ordering the book (and lots of other goodies) at Pozible. And please feel free to share with your networks!

You can find more posts by our authors linked here.