Patricia Young’s novels express her compassion, humour and zest for life. They defy being categorised in one narrow genre, ranging from bizarre comedy to dark tragedy. She sets out to entertain, but also challenges our perceptions of ourselves and the world in which we live.
Graduating in social science, Patricia first worked as a researcher into homelessness and then as a project leader at a night shelter for homeless men. She later trained as a teacher and turned to writing full time when she lost her sight, often saying that writing was another way of seeing.
Her determination to embrace life and its mysteries carried Patricia through many of the obstacles life put in her path, which apart from blindness also included epilepsy and, finally, cancer. As she once wrote:
“I prefer to look out not in. Out there, beyond the inner world of self-absorption is the domain of other people, their dilemmas, their confrontations, heartaches and challenges. Out there too is the humour that comes from the tension between tragedy and laughter.”
