‘Laurie Steed writes in the great tradition of Australian storytellers, unearthing the extraordinary in the ordinary. His work is an important contribution to the sociological exploration of Australia and its complex and often contradictory sense of self.’
Judges’ Report, 2024 Western Australian Premier's Book Awards
Laurie Steed is a writer, program designer, and creative learning specialist based in Perth, Western Australia. His work explores connection, creativity, and the ways stories shape the communities we build.
He is the award-winning author of You Belong Here, Greater City Shadows, and Love, Dad, and his work has appeared widely in Australian and international journals. His forthcoming works include Wandering and Dreaming, a collective memoir about creativity and neurodivergence, and Weak, a YA novel exploring masculinity, sensitivity, and coming of age.
Across more than a decade in the arts sector, Laurie has designed and delivered programs for organisations including Writers Victoria, Writing WA, the Centre for Stories, the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival, the Emerging Writers Festival, and the State Library of Western Australia. His strength lies in creating warm, inclusive, and deeply human learning experiences and programs that help writers and readers feel seen, supported, and understood.
A big‑picture thinker with a collaborative, values-led approach, Laurie specialises in teaching, mentoring, and building frameworks that empower creative people to thrive. His work is informed by lived experience of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and a commitment to making literary and learning spaces more accessible, joyful, and sustainable.
Laurie lives in Boorloo (Perth) on Whadjuk Noongar country with his family where he writes, reads, drinks coffee, and continues to champion the role of story in shaping better worlds. Over the years, he has helped countless writers become published authors so get in touch if you’d like to work with Laurie.
‘Steed’s skill is undeniable, and Greater City Shadows is a worthy achievement...a hopeful, smart collection.’
David Burton, Arts Hub
FULL REVIEW
ANTHOLOGIES
ON THE BLOG
Welcome to my blog where you’ll find stories, reviews, musings on writing process and craft, and so much more.
'Greater City Shadows is heart-warming and heart-breaking, tender, funny and vulnerable. It cements Steed’s reputation as a perceptive and talented storyteller.'
Jen Bowden, Westerly
FULL REVIEW
AWARDS
WINNER
2021 Henry Handel Richardson Flagship Fellowship
SHORTLISTED
2018 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards
FELLOW
2014 Sozopol Fiction Seminars
WINNER
2012 Patricia Hackett Prize
FELLOW
2012 University of Iowa Graduate Fiction Workshop
SHORTLISTED
2012 Bridport Prize
RECIPIENT
2022 Minderoo Foundation Artist Fund
WORK WITH ME
Are you ready to get serious about your writing?
With over twenty years experience developing my craft, studying stories, teaching writing, mentoring writers and assessing their manuscripts, I’ve become something of a story mechanic.
To find out more, click on any of the links below. Or, reach out and let’s start the conversation.
The Writer’s Workshop Courses for 2025 are now full. Please check back in mid-to-late February 2026 for new course information.
PARTNERS
My father, Dr Duncan Steed, died on April 17, 2023, just under a week shy of his seventy-eighth birthday. The plan, I think, was for me to write about my dad and then we’d celebrate him while he was still around to see it.