Shirley Richards was educated at Heywood and Malvern, leaving school at fifteen to work in the Myer store hairdessing department, before leaving to manage a store in Portland, Victoria. She began writing poetry after her husband was badly injured in a car accident and completed a short story writing course at Warrnambool TAFE, an advanced short story writing course at Perth TAFE, and a freelance writing certifucate course at Adelaide TAFE. Her work has appeared in local newspapers and Australian literary journals.
