Sue Tredget
Author, speaker and mental health advocate Sue Tredget shares her very personal survival story in the powerful memoir, Changing Lightbulbs: A Journey Through Anxiety and Depression. She is also the author of Transformation, a collection of her poems, and seven children’s picture books.
My Story
Meet Sue
I’ve always loved to write. For years I kept diaries and wrote poems and long letters to friends and family as a way of coping with the ups and downs of life and processing my thoughts. I sometimes dreamed of becoming a ‘real’ writer but once I’d embarked on a career as a French and Spanish teacher my writing took a back seat.
It took a personal crisis in 2013 and a year away from education for me to fulfil my dream. As I recovered from a period of deep depression, severe anxiety and borderline PTSD I started writing again and, in those pre-COVID days, was lucky enough to travel to India, Spain, Italy, Ireland and the UK as part of my healing process (kind of like a mini-version of Eat, Pray, Love, without the publisher’s advance!)
The journal I kept in India was the genesis of my memoir, Changing Lightbulbs. Creating something cohesive, meaningful and, ultimately I hope, uplifting, from all my crazy thoughts and ideas quite literally saved my life. I wrote my way out of a depression that almost had me beaten. The companion book of poems, Transformation, took shape on daily walks along the beach when I returned home to Western Australia after my travels.
The rhymes I composed in my head while walking the Camino de Santiago became the children’s picture book series My Colour Collection, illustrated by amazing Perth artist, Diana Kelly. I am passionate about encouraging parents and children to share the joy of reading and never want to lose touch with my inner child.
Testimonials
What People are Saying
“A beautiful collection”
“Transformation is a beautiful collection of poems that takes us on a journey through the chasms and peaks of the author’s recovery from depression. While the verses stem from her darkest days, their overall feeling is one of hope and transcendence … as she rediscovers the joy of living and finds the courage and inner wisdom to find a way out of the darkness.“
Samille Mitchell, Journalist.
“A remarkable book”
“What a remarkable book Changing Lightbulbs is … a story that really needs to be out in the world. “
Amanda J Spedding, Award Winning Author.
“Highly recommended”
“Changing Lightbulbs is an engaging tale … highly recommended. “
Dr Sophie Henshaw, Clinical Psychologist.
“A story of hope”
“At turns heart-warming and heart-breaking, Changing Lightbulbs is an honest account of one ‘ordinary’ woman’s descent into depression … shows the Black Dog can bite anyone at any time. But this is also a story of hope, one that reveals there is a way back from the darkest depths.“
Julie Hosking, Editor, West Weekend Magazine.
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Featured Books
Sue Tredget
Latest Writings
I’m inspired to write by many things: tough times and good times, the beauty of the natural world, my daily walks, the little things in life, simple pleasures, finding pockets of joy when I least expect them, my travels, the complexity of the human condition, friendship.
The solace of nature
Lately, I’ve been saddened to the point of despair by the state of the planet, by the fear and divisiveness that abound, by the algorithm vortexes that contract rather than expand minds and gobble up the gullible. I have no answers, but when I look at the wonder of...
Cancer In The Time Of Covid: Part Two
It’s been a while since I shared my cancer diagnosis online. In the days following that post I was overwhelmed by the messages of love and support I received from friends and family across the world and have drawn strength from every comment and acknowledgement. It...
Fighting cancer in the time of COVID
Curve balls and short straws On any ordinary day you go to your GP because of something you’ve noticed in your body, something that you think, you desperately hope, is nothing to be alarmed about. But it’s been there for a while and you finally decide to have it...
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Children’s Books
