‘His stories are full of authenticity, compassion and blatant honesty and humour…A wonderful read.’
Maggie Dent
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 Young Adult novel exploring masculinity, sensitivity, and accountability in the face of toxicity.
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 him.
‘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.’
The 2024 Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Judges’ Report
WORK WITH ME
Are you ready to get serious about your writing?
With over twenty years spent developing my craft, studying stories, teaching writing, mentoring writers, and assessing their manuscripts, I've become something of a story mechanic. I know why narratives stall, where characters lose their footing, and what it takes to develop a story to a necessarily high standard for publication.
To find out more, click on any of the links below. Or, reach out and let's start the conversation.
‘Steed’s skill is undeniable, and Greater City Shadows is a worthy achievement...a hopeful, smart collection.’
David Burton, Arts Hub
SUBMISSION AND STORY SERVICES
The Shorter Story Pulse Check and The Submission Window provide targeted, submission-ready feedback for writers at the final hurdle. Whether you’re submitting a single story or a full manuscript, you’ll receive the clarity and insight you need to bolster your work, your knowledge and your confidence if entering your work for an award or when it’s time to submit to an agent or publisher. To find out more, click on the links below.
THE SHORTER STORY
PULSE-CHECK
Have you finished drafting a short story and you're not sure where to head next? Have you submitted your work and not yet had it accepted? Whatever stage you're at, I'm here to help you strengthen your story and increase its chance of publication.
You’ll receive in-text mark-up and queries, and a report of up to 5 pages.
THE SUBMISSION
WINDOW
You've written the book. Now comes the more difficult question: is it ready to submit to agents and publishers?
The Submission Window is a focused, submission-ready assessment of your opening three-chapters (or up to ten thousand words), your synopsis, and your cover letter. You'll receive five specific, prioritised areas of the work to address before you send your work out into the world. There’s no vague encouragement here, and no overwhelming report. Instead, you’ll receive only the clearest possible view of where you and your work currently stand, and what to do next.
The Submission Window for the writer who knows their manuscript is close, but needs guidance from a trusted, experienced reader, writer and editor before they press send.
What's included:
· Assessment of up to 10,000 words of manuscript extract
· Synopsis review
· Cover letter review
· Five prioritised points of action for submission readiness
· Targeted feedback delivered efficiently that observes work readiness to submit and agent and publisher submission expectations
Fee: $850 AUD, payable in full at booking. Lead time: Minimum 14 days from booking to delivery.
Not sure if this is the right service for you? Book a Narrative Spark first and we'll work it out together.
Have you finished drafting a short story and you're not sure where to head next? Have you submitted your work and not yet had it accepted? Whatever stage you're at, I'm here to help you strengthen your story and increase its chance of publication.
You’ll receive in-text mark-up and queries, and a report of up to 5 pages.
For the writer whose complete manuscript is ready for its final test before submission. The Submission Window (Full) brings the same targeted, submission-focused eye to your entire manuscript, synopsis, and cover letter, delivering five clear priorities to address before you approach agents or publishers.
Word count tiers and pricing coming soon. To register your interest in advance, get in touch directly.
AWARDS
WINNER
2021 HHR Flagship Fellowship for Short Story Writing
SHORTLISTED
2018 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards - Emerging Writers’ Prize
FELLOW
Elizabth Kostova Foundation - 2014 Sozopol Fiction Seminars
WINNER
2012 Patricia Hackett Prize
FELLOW
2012 University of Iowa Graduate Fiction Workshop
SHORTLISTED
2012 Bridport Prize
SHORTLISTED
2022 Dorothy Hewett Award
'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
ON THE BLOG
Welcome to my blog where you’ll find stories, reviews, musings on writing process and craft, and so much more.
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.