Riemann served on a coastal steamer in Queensland before moving to Western Australia after his marriage in 1906, when he began pearl-fishing off the north-west coast. His stories were published in Lone Hand, the Bulletin, the Sydney Mail and the Western Mail (Perth) and collected in Nor'-West o' West (1924). They are set in or about Peepingee, a small coastal port with a polyglot population, and without striving for effect, according to Colin Roderick, present 'hard-living' characters, swift action and straightforward narrative.
Riemann's poetry appeared in the Bulletin (Sydney) and the Lone Hand, as well as the anthologies Westralia Gift Book (1916), An Australian Story-book (1928), Australian Short Stories (1951) and, posthumously, The Gate of Dreams (1990).
