Paul F. Walsh OAM

Paul F Walsh OAM, B. Math. Dip. Ed. Dip. R.E. has been teaching, tutoring and mentoring students in mathematics for over forty years.

He is the co-author of The HS Sea, Students’ Own Adventure Journal. Paul believes that information without inspiration is of very little value and that mathematics is just a long word for fun.

Paul F Walsh wrote and published a collection of poems entitled An Elephant’s Lament in 1983.

This was followed by his two-volume poetical work The Flock in 1984 and 1986 respectively.

In 1992, his first novel The Burning Bush was published nationally. This led to Paul F Walsh appearing on Good Morning Australia with Bert Newton, 11AM with Ann Sanders and throughout Australia via radio interviews.

Since 1992 Paul F Walsh OAM and Susan Harvey have published nationally within Australia via Elephant Press in association with Tusk Productions.

In addition to The Burning Bush, their publications include Two Stars (edited by Paul F Walsh), Black Feather White Feather (a novel by Paul F Walsh), The HS Sea, Students’ Own Adventure Journal (co-authored by Susan Harvey and Paul F Walsh) and the national bestseller Novocastrian Tales (edited and co-authored by Paul F Walsh). The preface of Novocastrian Tales was written by former Prime Minister of Australia, Gough Whitlam, and the Novocastrian Tales project raised the funds to build Yallarwah Place, an aboriginal accommodation centre at John Hunter Hospital in NSW, Australia.

The novel Black Feather White Feather inspired the Currawong Project, a national reconciliation project during the 2001 Centenary of Federation year, and the mooted artwork of Yirannali: The Quiet Project on The Bathers Way in Newcastle.

Yirannali: The Quiet Project was created by Paul F Walsh as were the Currawong and Novocastrian Tales Projects. Various tales, poems, novellas, newspaper articles, songs and novels from Paul F Walsh and Susan Harvey may be read, experienced and enjoyed for free on the Novocastrian Tales page of this website, which is named in honour of their national bestseller. It should be noted that a copy of the tale Rotunda Fortunae by Paul F Walsh, a tale which appears on the Novocastrian Tales page, is buried in a time capsule in Lambton Park for 100 years and will next be exposed to the light of day in October 2118.

In 2016, in recognition of Paul’s contribution to ‘mathematics and the community’ the Chancellor of the University of Newcastle invited Paul F Walsh OAM to be a special VIP guest at mathematics graduation ceremonies.

Paul is the recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia, an Australian Reconciliation Award, the Premier’s Award for Community Service, the University of Newcastle’s Newton-John Award for Innovation and Creativity, the Gold Serif Award for Event Media and Citizen of the Year for the City of Newcastle.

In 2000 he joined Susan Harvey in representing Australia at the international millennium celebrations in Chicago. Paul was a finalist in the Banjo Paterson Writing Awards in 2001.