Debra Adelaide (born 1958) is an Australian novelist, writer and academic.[1] She teaches creative writing at the University of Technology Sydney.

Debra Adelaide
Born1958 (age 65–66)
Sydney, New South Wales
OccupationNovelist
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAustralian
Years active1988-

Biography

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Adelaide was born in Sydney and grew up in the Sutherland Shire.[2] A contemporary of writers Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey, she attended Gymea High School and then, via a teacher's scholarship, she completed a BA (Honours) and MA (Honours) in English literature at the University of Sydney. She then completed a PhD in Australian women's literature in 1991 there,[3] and in the process completed her first book, a bibliography of Australian women's literature.

While studying, Debra Adelaide worked as a university tutor and research assistant, and afterwards became a freelance editor, author and book reviewer. She commenced writing fiction in the early 1990s and her first novel, The Hotel Albatross, was published in 1995.

She is currently an associate professor in creative practice at the University of Technology Sydney, where she teaches in the undergraduate communication program and teaches and supervises postgraduate creative writing.

She was married until 2003 and has three children.

Works

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Adelaide has published 12 books, including novels, anthologies and reference books on Australian literature. Her novels are The Household Guide to Dying (Picador:2008), The Hotel Albatross (Vintage: 1995) and Serpent Dust (Vintage: 1998). She has published two collections of short fiction, entitled Zebra: and other stories (Picador: 2019) and Letter to George Clooney (Picador: 2013) and also contributed to and edited the anthology Acts of Dogs (Vintage: 2003) in which leading Australian and NZ authors have written stories and memoirs on the theme of dogs, and the Motherlove series of anthologies (Random House: 1996; 1997; 1998).[4]

Zebra won the 2019 University of Southern Queensland Steele Rudd Award for a Short Story Collection.[5]

Bibliography

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Novels

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  • The Hotel Albatross (1995)[6]
  • Serpent Dust (1998)[7]
  • The Household Guide to Dying (2008)[8]
  • The Women's Pages (2015)[9]

Short stories

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  • Letter to George Clooney (2013)[10]
  • Zebra (2019)[11]

Non-fiction

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  • Australian Women Writers: A Bibliographic Guide (Pandora, 1988)[12]
  • The Innocent Reader: Reflections on Reading and Writing (2019)[13]

As editor

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  • A Window in the Dark (1991).[14] Autobiography of Dymphna Cusack
  • Motherlove: Stories About Births, Babies and Beyond (1996)[15]
  • Motherlove 2: More Stories About Births, Babies and Beyond (1997)[16]
  • A Bright and Fiery Troop: Australian Women Writers of the Nineteenth Century (1998)[17]
  • Cutting the Cord: Stories of Children, Love and Loss (1998)[18]
  • Acts of Dog: Writers on the Canine Divine (2003)[19]
  • The Simple Act of Reading (2015)[20]

Awards

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Year Work Prize Category Result Ref
2014 Letter to George Clooney Nita Kibble Literary Awards Nita B Kibble Literary Award Shortlisted [21]
Stella Prize Longlisted [22]
2016 The Women's Pages Nita Kibble Literary Awards Nita B Kibble Literary Award Lonlisted
Stella Prize Longlisted [23]
2019 Zebra Queensland Literary Awards Steele Rudd Award Won [5]

References

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  1. ^ "Austlit — Debra Adelaide". Austlit. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  2. ^ "The art of dying". 24 May 2008.
  3. ^ Cusack, Dymphna. Yarn Spinners: A Story in Letters. University of Queensland Press. p. 422. ISBN 0702231924.
  4. ^ "Debra Adelaide — Readings Books".
  5. ^ a b Qian, Jinghua (12 November 2019). "Winners announced for the 2019 Queensland Literary Awards". ArtsHub Australia. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  6. ^ "The Hotel Albatross by Debra Adelaide". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  7. ^ "Serpent Dust by Debra Adelaide". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  8. ^ "The Household Guide to Dying by Debra Adelaide". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  9. ^ "The Women's Pages by Debra Adelaide". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  10. ^ "Letter to George Clooney by Debra Adelaide". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  11. ^ "Zebra by Debra Adelaide". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  12. ^ "Australian Women Writers: A Bibliographic Guide by Debra Adelaide". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  13. ^ "The Innocent Reader: Reflections on Reading and Writing by Debra Adelaide". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  14. ^ "A Window in the Dark by Debra Adelaide". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  15. ^ "Motherlove: Stories about Births, Babies and Beyond by Debra Adelaide". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  16. ^ "Motherlove 2: More Stories About Births, Babies and Beyond by Debra Adelaide". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  17. ^ "A Bright and Fiery Troop by Debra Adelaide". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  18. ^ "Cutting the Cord by Debra Adelaide". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  19. ^ "Acts Of Dog: Writers on the Canine Divine by Debra Adelaide". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  20. ^ "The Simple Act of Reading by Debra Adelaide". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  21. ^ ""Kristina Olsson wins Kibble literary award for true tale of a lost child"". The Guardian, 24 July 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  22. ^ "Stella Longlist 2014". Stella. Archived from the original on 23 February 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  23. ^ ""Stella Prize – Past prize Winners"". The Stella Prize. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
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