About

Virginia Peters grew up on the Kapiti Coast in New Zealand. One of her earliest memories is being taken by her mother on the Wellington cable car to a children’s book launch.

She began her working life in newspapers and magazines before moving to Australia, where she raised three children and eventually returned to the ambition to write. She studied Professional Writing at the University of Technology Sydney and later completed a Master’s degree, producing a collection of short fiction. Her stories have appeared in Australian literary journals and anthologies.

The disappearance of German backpacker Simone Strobel in northern New South Wales in 2005 led Peters away from fiction and into an investigation that would occupy her for years. Her first book, Have You Seen Simone?, was published in 2014.

Peters subsequently completed a PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London, and a second MA at the University of East Anglia.

After twelve years away from writing, she has returned to the story of Simone Strobel in a new work of literary nonfiction.