Elizabeth Vercoe

Elizabeth Vercoe

"There is light even in darkness. Six simple words."

Elizabeth Vercoe is a Melbourne-based writer and artist and mother of three young children. Her first novel, Keep Your Hair On!, is a fictional response to her experience of cancer.

"When I was little I dreamed of being all sorts of things. An air hostess, a truck driver, an actor, a circus clown, a journalist, a pilot, a tree planter, a park ranger. Then, when I was older — 25 years old — I got cancer."

"This was the beginning of an amazing journey. I saw some very dark and bleak times. I was frightened of living this way. But mostly I was terrified of dying.

"When I was at the lowest and darkest point of my journey, I made a discovery: There is light even in darkness. Six simple words.

"It is now almost ten years since my dalliance with cancer. I don't like calling it a battle because I was not really at war with myself.

"Keep Your Hair On! and The Grief Book have been sitting inside me for a long time.