She returned to her Philippines home region many times to gather material from people who remembered well the impacts of the late-1980s  war. 

She spent many hours researching, writing, rewriting and fielding the rejection letters of publishers. 

Then one day in March last year, Fish-Hair Woman – a tragic, magical realism-infused tale of a family destroyed during the war – at last became a book.

A reviewer from The Australian responded with a glowing review, and Dr Bobis was thrilled. But then everything went quiet. There was scant reaction from the literary or wider community. Worse, the book simply wasn’t selling. 

‘‘It was hurtful – I’d spent all those years on it,’’ said Dr Bobis, a creative writing lecturer at the University of Wollongong.

Earlier this month Dr Bobis was announced winner of the Small Press Network’s Most Underrated Book Award, which gives slower-selling literary gems a shot in the arm at the sales counter.

The award goes to a book published in the previous year that, despite its quality writing, was overlooked for other prizes and did not generate the sales it deserved. 

Independent Australian book retailer Readings reported a tenfold increase in sales of books shortlisted for last year’s award. 

Dr Bobis said the accolade had given her new hope of finding a wide readership for Fish-Hair Woman.

‘‘The story is so close to my heart. It’s not just [a case of] writing because you want to publish a book, but writing because you want to tell the stories that would otherwise disappear,’’ she said.