Claire Thomas is a writer from Naarm/Melbourne. Her novel, The Performance was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and shortlisted for the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Her debut novel, Fugitive Blue, won the Dobbie Award for Women Writers and was longlisted for the Miles Franklin. Claire’s latest novel, On Not Climbing Mountains, was written with the support of a residency at the Fondation Jan Michalski in Montricher, Switzerland. She holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne and has worked as a mentor, lecturer, supervisor and teacher for many years.