November 9 - 15, 2022
Celebrating a grand old bookshop By BELINDA HARRISON
AMELIA Mellor grew up on a bush block in Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula surrounded by chickens, fruit trees and all kinds of wildlife so, when the opportunity to take up a teaching position in the North East presented itself, Amelia knew she would love the backdrop. “I had never visited Bright, but I wanted to live and work close to the bush, in fact, I’d long had ‘hiking in a high country national park when there’s no snow’ on my bucket list so that was definitely a drawcard,” Amelia said. “On my initial visit to the area in October 2019, I drove to Mount Buffalo and saw the beautiful mountain flora that I’d looked forward to so much it was the first of many hiking trips up there. “As a graduate teacher, opportunities are mostly short contracts and every time a contract ended, I had to figure out my next step. “Sometimes that leads to big decisions like changing schools or moving towns completely.” When Amelia arrived in Bright, she taught secondary school English before becoming a primary teacher at Porepunkah. “I took a bit of a risk moving to a completely new town to teach while still in my first year, but it was worthwhile and I learned a lot from it,” she said. While living and teaching in Bright, and amidst the pandemic and lockdowns, Amelia’s first novel - The Grandest Bookshop in the World - was released. The book is set in 1893 and inspired by the real Cole’s Book Arcade which used to be on the Bourke Street Mall.
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◆ CREATIVE SPACE: Amelia enjoyed getting out in the surrounding bush which helped her relax and slip into creative mode.
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