Hi there! Thanks for coming to my writing world.
![](https://www.sylviapetter.com/wp-content/uploads/342/2014/09/AllingerPic-217x300.jpg)
Artwork: the late Jörg Allinger
I’m an Australian, formerly based in Vienna, Austria, and Geneva’s neighbouring France. I’m all over the place, a blob of mercury on a lab floor, as my old writing boot camp sergeant, Alex Keegan, used to say. Born in Vienna, I grew up in Australia and after more than 25 years in the Geneva area, was living in Vienna, Austria. I started writing fiction in 1993, and my poems, articles and stories have appeared in print and on the web.
I’ve attended workshops and writing conferences in Austria, Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, and have done correspondence courses through Humber College, Toronto. In 2009 I completed a PhD in Creative Writing at UNSW and am working on my second novel.
I was Co-Director Vienna of the 13th International Conference on the Short Story in English, Vienna, 2014. A founding member of the Geneva Writers’ Group, I am currently a member of IG Autorinnen Autoren and GAV, Vienna, Austria, and the Australian Society of Authors.
I write short and long, serious and fun. As AstridL, I also write some erotica.
You can also find me on Instagram.
When I get my head around it, I’ll be doing a book on my mother’s life in craft. A taste here from her blog.
Do come on in and look around here. Some things might make you laugh or smile, others might make you cry, some may make you think.
- Sylvia at play
- Sylvia at work
- AstridL