Paul Rushworth-Brown | Australian Historical Fiction Author

Paul Rushworth-Brown is an Australian historical fiction novelist whose works weave together lived experience, deep research, and a storyteller’s eye for the ordinary people history often forgets.

Paul Rushworth-Brown – Australian Historical Fiction Novelist, Storyteller & Educator

Born in England in 1962, Paul grew up far from the outback landscapes that would later shape his writing. In his twenties, he set off across the world — hitchhiking across Canada, sleeping rough in the Australian outback, crossing Malaysia by road, and even once sleeping on top of a train between Delhi and Jaipur.

Paul migrated to Australia in 1982, an experience that would later inform aspects of his understanding of Australia, although his fiction ultimately explores broader themes of identity, belonging, resilience, and personal transformation.

The idea of men arriving with hope, only to be reshaped by forces they don’t understand, sits at the heart of Outback Odyssey—a story shaped as much by the land as the people within it.

Alongside his writing of Australian historical fiction, Paul has been a high school teacher and a professional football coach, notably developing the Pararoos program — the national team for athletes with cerebral palsy, brain injury, or stroke. He not only coached the team but also named them The Pararoos, giving Australia’s Paralympic footballers a lasting identity.

Novels

📕 Outback Odyssey (2024, Historium Press. A sweeping historical novel set in 1950s Australia that follows one young man's journey of identity, belonging, and personal transformation. Through friendship, Country, and resilience, Outback Odyssey explores how the greatest discoveries are often found within ourselves.

Read on Amazon →     

Review on BookSirens → https://booksirens.com/book/CQXYG3S/S5DTJ40

📗 Dream of Courage The story of two young Yorkshire brothers who leave their village in search of survival and opportunity.

📘 Red Winter Journey A gritty tale of peasants caught between armies during the English Civil War.

📙 Skulduggery A Yorkshire moorland saga praised for bringing forgotten 17th-century voices to life.

Reception

Paul’s latest work, Outback Odyssey, has been featured across multiple platforms:

📺 Making Memorable Historical Fiction: Podcast Interview with Author & Teacher Paul Rushworth-Brown

📺 PSI TV’s Dr. Trudy praised it as “evocative storytelling with cultural insight, where the land itself becomes a character.”

📰 ReaderViews highlighted the novel’s allegorical depth and respect for First Nations perspectives.

🎙️ Chris Voss Show described it as a story that “shakes up Australia’s colonial narrative.”

🎵 Jazz for Peace Podcast explored how the novel confronts Australia’s colonial silence.

🎤 Conversations Allowed Podcast with Hadi unpacked themes of colonisation, reconciliation,

and allegory.

📺Episode 109: Paul Rushworth-Brown: Outback Odyssey and the Art of Storytelling

Media and Podcasting

Paul also hosts Down Under Interviews, where he shines a spotlight on fellow authors and storytellers worldwide. His approachable style and passion for history make him as engaging behind the microphone as he is on the page.

Themes and Style

Unlike traditional historical fiction focused on nobility, Paul’s writing champions peasants, stockmen, and ordinary people who history often erased. He layers survival tales with allegory—exploring identity, reconciliation, belonging, resilience, and the enduring relationship between people and Country through narrative rather than polemic. As Paul puts it:

“Most novels talk about the Lords and Ladies. I write about the marginalized groups who didn’t have a voice — once forgotten, now found.”

Reception

Paul’s latest work, Outback Odyssey, has been featured across multiple platforms:

• Australian Book Lovers Podcast spotlighted it as a notable historical fiction release (Episode 150, Sept 2025).

• PSI TV’s Dr. Trudy praised it as “evocative storytelling with cultural insight, where the land itself becomes a character.” [PSI TV Interview, 2025]

• ReaderViews highlighted the novel’s allegorical depth and respect for First Nations perspectives [ReaderViews, 2024].

• Chris Voss Show described it as a story that “shakes up Australia’s colonial narrative.” [CyberEra coverage, 2025]

• Jazz for Peace Podcast explored how the novel confronts Australia’s colonial silence [Jazz for Peace, 2025].

• Conversations Allowed Podcast with Hadi unpacked themes of colonisation, reconciliation, and allegory [Spotify, 2025].

  
  

Sources & Media

• Reader Views Review of Outback Odyssey, 2024

• PSI TV Interview with Dr. Trudy, 2025

• The Chris Voss Show – “Outback Odyssey” (Spotify, 2025)

• Cyber Era: Author Paul Rushworth-Brown joins the Chris Voss Show (2025)

• Jazz for Peace Podcast – Interview with Paul Rushworth-Brown (2025)

• Conversations Allowed Podcast- with Hadi (Spotify, 2025