Novel approach gives writer Courtney a reason beyond rhyme

After a decade of success in the poetry scene, Farmborough Heights author Courtney Peppernell is returning to her roots with debut fiction novel The Last Poem.

“I always joke that it was my goal to write novels but then I got onto this side quest in poetry and I’ve kind of been there for the last decade,” she says.

“I’ve been writing poetry books and doing tours and meeting all these amazing beautiful kinds of readers that have connected over the books, but I always wanted to transition into novels. That was always the goal.”

Courtney’s “side quest” began in the early days of Tumblr, where she built a dedicated following writing fan fiction and sharing snippets of poetry.

“I was a little bit impatient because I’d read somewhere that writing can start to become a career if you have eight novels in the world. I was like, how am i going to write all these novels so quickly?” she says.

“So I was a Tumblr girlie back in the day. It’s a bit cringe now but still I guess you’ve got to start somewhere. Lots of people were connecting with my writing.”

These online roots led to Courtney entering the self-publishing space, posting the Pillow Thoughts series for sale on Amazon. The series went viral and became a global phenomenon, selling millions of copies and leading to sold-out tours across the US.

“I was posting some of the poetry from the book, and it just went viral … back in the day when going viral was such a huge, life-changing thing that could happen to you,” she says.

“About two months [after putting the book on Amazon] I had an email from a publisher in the US asking for the rights... it just blew up my life.”

Her new novel, The Last Poem, focuses on Wren, an author grappling with the sudden death of her fiance. The story follows her journey to a small Colorado town, where she joins a grief group led by Harry, a librarian who uses poetry as a tool for healing.

“I was trying to think of a story that I could write as a novel, and sometimes when you’ve been successful in one genre like poetry, it can be a bit jarring for a reader who is used the reading small bursts and snippets of poetry, to then have a novel come out, and I wanted to take them with me,” she said.

“The whole process with a novel is so different to poetry, where you can write and back away and come back again. I was having to spend so much time building this world. I really wanted to kind of capture all different kinds of grief... the grief you feel when maybe a dream doesn't work out or through a relationship break up or identity issues.”

Many of Courtney’s experiences within the poetry space have influenced the story of her latest novel, including the idea of “found family”, inspired by events such as book-signings.

“I’d look around and there would be all these people in the room from so many different walks of life, and you wouldn't typically think they’d be in a room together, but they were connecting over poetry. I found that so beautiful and I wanted to put that into the story.”

Looking ahead, Courtney isn't leaving poetry behind entirely; she is currently bridging her two worlds. In August, she will release a real-world poetry collection written from the perspective of her fictional character, Wren. She is also preparing for an anniversary edition of her popular poetry book All Dogs Are Good this October.

“In the last poem, Wren writes a poetry book for the grief group, and I've decided to publish that as a book. It'll be fun to have the two books complement each other,” she says.

“I have so many exciting things going on, but I'm very excited about the dog one, because I want to have a launch or something where people get to bring their dogs...  just an excuse to meet dogs, really.”

Though her career has been largely based in the US, Courtney is a local through and through. Her family jokes that her success was fated, as growing up in Engadine, she lived next door to The Book Thief author Markus Zusak. 

“People joke like ‘what’s in the water there?’”

Courtney thanks her friends and family, particularly her mum, Fran Peppernell, a long-time member of Helensburgh Lions Club, for their support over the past decade. Now she writes from her home office in Farmborough Heights, and is excited to share her life with the local community.

“I'm kind of a homebody with my chickens and dogs. I usually write at my desk and my dogs are at my feet. I've got this beautiful balcony and I'm so lucky our place backs onto a bush reserve so I have all the bird life around me. I get a lot out of that,” she says.

“Sometimes I’ll head to the coffee shops in Kiama… I love that coastal walk, I love hiking and walking so often if I'm struggling to write I'll just go for a big long walk. So the area itself… to be able to do that is so nice.

“I'm just so excited that ‌this is happening at home. It's happening in the US too, obviously, but I'm here at home and I'm able to connect with community, and I've been blessed to meet other writers and authors and celebrate their books, too. 

“The characters in The Last Poem have community and it's just nice that it's happening in real life for me as well, where I get to be part of the bookish community in Australia.”

Collins Booksellers Thirroul hosted Courtney's local book launch for The Last Poem on March 3 at Ryans Hotel and has copies in store. Keep up with Courtney on Instagram.