Philomena van Rijswijk is a poet, novelist and story-writer living in Tasmania. Her most well-known novel, "The World as a Clockface", was published by Penguin. Her poems and short stories have been published in collections and literary journals in Australia, Ireland and India. Her work was included in "Best Australian Stories 2002" (Black Inc) and "Best Australian Poetry 2005" (UQP). Some of her stories have been translated into Hindi and published in Indian literary journals and anthologies. Her poetry collection, "Bread of the Lost", was published by Walleah Press in December 2013. Her latest fabulist novel, “The Bishop, the Gypsy and the Dancing Bear”, addresses the themes of xenophobia and border security.