Dotti Simmons passed away peacefully at home on 1st November, 2021.
Dotti was an esteemed member of the writers’ group here at Riparian, posting on Ellen Kelly, the Parramatta Female Factory, Hotel Bonegilla, Rural Australians for Refugees and the annual Write Around the Murray (WAM) festival.
A founding member of the WAM Advisory Committee, Dotti would be one of the judges of the first round of the annual short story competition, reading hundreds of entries. She has been an engaging participant in festival events, memorably contributing on a panel on historical fiction during her palliative care.
Dotti was a regular contributor to FourW annual anthologies of new writing and published some prize-winning short stories.
During the recent memorial at St Matthew’s her daughters announced that Albury High, where Dotti taught Extension English, would be awarding the Dorothy Simmons Prize for Creative Writing from 2022.
Dotti’s novels, short stories and microfiction, her mentoring of younger writers and love of life will always be remembered.
Note
The photo above shows Dotti on a Riparian excursion in 2018, exploring the proposed site for the Pumphouse Maker Space in Waterworks Rd.
Riparian 