The Very Bad Thing

Elizabeth Mary Cummings was born in Manchester England, grew up in Scotland and studied in Edinburgh. After completing a degree in Psychology and Business Studies, Elizabeth went on to train and work as a primary school teacher for many years in Scotland and New Zealand before moving to Australia to run a language education business. In recent years Elizabeth has become involved in the area of family and mental health education. Her first book The Disappearing Sister (EC PRESS 2015) has gained attention for its simple explanation of eating disorders aimed at siblings and families of sufferers. Elizabeth is writes poetry and won the HARP Writers' Prize in 2015 for a poem about gender and identity. The latest picture book, The Forever Kid (Big Sky Publishing; October 2018) deals with themes of grief and remembrance.Formally a primary school teacher from UK, Elizabeth lives in Sydney writing for children and adults alike. Her works often take a child's perspective to explain the world and to reflect on important life experiences. Her poetry is aimed at general audiences.Elizabeth's academic background is in psychology giving her e a deeper understanding of the subject matter for her publications on mental health and family matters. As a former carer of a loved one with an eating disorder Elizabeth's understanding of the impact of mental illness on family life is one rooted in lied experience as well as academic and professional reference.Since 2015 Elizabeth has been creating two distinct picture book series. Firstly, The Elephant in the Room Series providing a 'way into' conversation with young children about family and mental health matters. The second series is a series of books about characters in a fictional town called 'Verityville' based on real events and people.Elizabeth is curating 3 Poetry collections; A Beach For All Seasons (Coogee inspired poetry), Requiem (Words of Remembrance For Those Who Have Touched Our Lives) and Untitled, The Spectrum of Our Minds (Poetry on Mental Health). these are due to be published in pamphlet form later in 2020. My work with Elephant in the Room has given rise me to opportunities such as presenting at an international storytelling conference at Mansfield College in Oxford UK and The Young Child Conference in New York (2018) as well as other forums and conference in the mental health sector. I won SCWC Writer's prize for a poem about gender and identity in 2015.