Solo survivor bares her soul

ALONE Australia season one winner Gina Chick is excited to be returning to the Byron Shire this month to talk about her new book, We Are the Stars.

“Whenever I can I get up to the Northern Rivers to spend some time,” she said.

“I have so many friends in the region and I’m looking forward to connecting with some soulful humans.

“I can’t wait to squeeze all of them — and the new ones.”

Chick’s mother and grandmother are both bestselling authors, and Chick has always had a passion for writing, finishing her memoir in just six weeks.

She decided to write the book because so many people came up to her in the street after watching the survival series asking how she learned to be so in touch with nature.

“This book is the story of everything that’s happened in my life so I could go out there into the Tasmanian wilderness for 67 days and thrive,” she said. “One of the things that’s true for me is that it’s really hard to break through the shackles of self-limitation without a dark night of the soul.”

The book covers her ‘free range’ 1970s childhood on the NSW South Coast, partying in the queer nightlife scene in Sydney in the 1990s, falling prey to a conman, fighting breast cancer when she was pregnant, and the grief of losing her beloved daughter when she was just two years old.

“Whatever you think you know about me, it’s only the tiniest tip of the iceberg,” Chick said.

“Most people are going to find something in this book that they can relate to that’s part of their journey.”

The Byron Writers Festival event, Gina Chick in Conversation, will be held at Bangalow’s A&I Hall on Tuesday, October 22 at 6.30pm. For more information and tickets, visit byronwritersfestival.com/whats-on/gina-chick