Once We Were Wildlife

A tender, luminous collection of interconnected tales that explore love, longing and the wilderness – both within and around us.

In this compulsive compilation of eleven stories and one poem – set against scorched landscapes, wild oceans, and rocky terrain – Simpson follows people on the edge of desire, heartbreak and change.

In ‘Poached’, an ex-soldier finds himself between a poacher and a Bengal tiger. In ‘The Wash’, a woman’s reckless ocean swim reveals the instinct to survive and the end of a passionate love.

From the aching intensity of romantic love to the quiet devastations of motherhood and ageing, Simpson’s literary prowess keeps us riveted by the power of nature to shape human relationships and worlds. Melancholic and joyful, masterful and inspiring, this is contemporary fiction at its finest by Australia’s foremost writer of the natural world, Inga Simpson.

Praise for Simpson’s award-nominated novels:

‘Beguiling and entertaining’ Weekend Australian

‘Storytelling at its best. I was enthralled’ SARAH WINMAN, author of Still Life

‘I loved this – gorgeous, heartbreaking . . .’ ROBBIE ARNOTT, author of Dusk

Author Biography

Inga Simpson began her career as a professional writer for government before gaining a PhD in creative writing. In 2011, she took part in the Queensland Writers Centre Manuscript Development Program and, as a result, Hachette Australia published her first novel, Mr Wigg, in 2013. Nest, Inga’s second novel, was published in 2014 and was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Stella Prize and shortlisted for the ALS Gold Medal. Inga’s third novel, the acclaimed Where the Trees Were, was published in 2016.

Inga was awarded the final Eric Rolls Prize for her nature writing and has obtained a second PhD, exploring the history of Australian nature writers. Inga’s account of her love of Australian nature and life with trees, Understory, was published in 2017. Her first book for children, The Book of Australian Trees, illustrated by Alicia Rogerson, was published in 2021. The Last Woman in the World, her critically acclaimed environmental thriller, was published in 2021 and shortlisted for the 2022 Fiction Indie Book Award. Her bestselling and critically acclaimed 2022 novel Willowman was shortlisted for the BookPeople Adult Fiction Book of the Year 2023 and in 2024 was selected by Australia’s leading booksellers in BookPeople’s 100 Must-Read Australian Novels. Her 2024 literary thriller The Thinning has been shortlisted for the 2025 ACT Literary Award for Fiction and was longlisted for the 2025 Stella Prize and the 2025 Fiction Indie Book Award. The Peach King, illustrated by Tannya Harricks, is her second book for children, and published in 2025. Once We Were Wildlife is her eighth novel.

Inga lives on the New South Wales south coast among trees.