Jelena Curic is a writer of literary fiction, crime fiction, and comedy.
In 2023, she attended the WestWords Academy – a year-long development program for emerging writers – and in 2024, she was selected for the WestWords Accelerator program, during which she developed her novel manuscript. She has had work published in the organisation’s anthologies Bad Western Sydney: The Second Case and Living Stories: The Other City, as well as the Short Stories Unlimited anthology Leaving Home and Written Off Literary Journal. Jelena was shortlisted for the Born Writers Award in 2023 and 2024.
She has read at Bravewords, was a panellist at BAD Crime Festival 2024, alongside Candice Fox and Dinuka McKenzie, and was accepted into the 2024 Accelerator program with Westwords and Parramatta City Council. Her debut novel, Sing To Me, will be released in September 2025 through Westwords Books.
Along with writing novels, short stories and comedy pieces, she is also the resident diva in the Croatian community, singing most weekends.
Her debut novel Sing to Me will be published by WestWords Books on 1 September 2025.
Publications
Novels
Sing To Me, Westwords Books, 2025.
Short stories
Peacock Blood, Bad Western Sydney, 2023.
Even Crooks Need a Crook Lock, Bad Western Sydney, The Second Case, 2024.
Pendle Hills Shops, Living Stories: The Other City, 2023.
Aokigahara for Baseball Players, Short Stories Unlimited, 2023.
Vjera’s Fur, Written Off Vol. 3, 2025
Anna’s Rosary, Short Stories from the 2024 E.M. Fletcher Writing Competition, 2025.
Awards
Shortlisted, Born Writers’ Award, 2023 and 2024.
Westwords + City of Parramatta Council’s Accelerator Program, 2024.
Regional winner, Living Stories 2023.