Gillian Mears
| Gillian Mears | |
|---|---|
| Born |
21 July 1964 Lismore, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died |
16 May 2016 (aged 51) Near Grafton, New South Wales |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Australian |
Gillian Mears (21 July 1964 – 16 May 2016) was an Australian short story writer and novelist. Her books Ride a Cock Horse and The Grass Sister won a Commonwealth Writers' Prize, shortlist, in 1989 and 1996, respectively. The Mint Lawn won The Australian/Vogel Award.[1] In 2003, A Map of the Gardens won the Steele Rudd Award.[2]
Life
Mears was born at Lismore Base Hospital, and raised in Grafton, New South Wales where she was school dux of Grafton High School.[3]
She moved to Sydney to study at university, beginning a degree in archaeology at the University of Sydney having been inspired to pursue a career in archaeology after reading Gods, Graves and Scholars by C. W. Ceram. At the age of 18, she withdrew from the course, and instead completed a degree in communications at University of Technology, Sydney.[3]
She lived near Grafton, New South Wales. She died in May 2016 after living with multiple sclerosis for seventeen years.[4]
Awards and honors
- 1989 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, shortlist, Ride a Cock Horse
- 1990 The Australian/Vogel Literary Award, winner, The Mint Lawn
- 1996 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, shortlist, The Grass Sister
- 2003 Steele Rudd Award, winner, A Map of the Gardens
- 2012 Miles Franklin Award, shortlist, Foal's Bread
- 2012 Australian Literature Society, Gold Medal, Foal's Bread [5]
- 2012 Prime Minister's Literary Awards, Fiction Award, Foal's Bread [6]
Works
Novels
- The Mint Lawn, Allen & Unwin, 1991, ISBN 978-1-86373-016-7
- The Grass Sister, Alfred A. Knopf, 1995, ISBN 978-0-09-183121-9
- Foal's Bread, Allen & Unwin, 2011, ISBN 978-1-74237-629-5
Short stories
- Ride a Cock Horse Pascoe Publishing, 1988, ISBN 978-0-947087-12-8
- Fineflour. University of Queensland Press. 1990. ISBN 978-0-7022-2311-2.
- Collected stories, University of Queensland Press, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7022-2950-3
- A map of the gardens: stories, Pan Macmillan Australia, 2002, ISBN 978-0-330-36346-4[7]
Non-fiction
- Paradise is a place, Photographer Sandy Edwards, Random House Australia, 1997, ISBN 978-0-09-183641-2
Memoir
- Alive in Ant and Bee
Children's book
- The Cat With The Coloured Tail, Walker Books, 2015, ISBN 9781922077400 (illustrated by Dinale Dabarera)
References
- ↑ The Prime of Ms Mears, archived from the original on 4 March 2016
- ↑ "Alive in Ant and Bee by Gillian Mears". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. February 2009. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012.
- 1 2 Purcell, John. "Gillian Mears, author of Foal's Bread, answers Ten Terrifying Questions". Booktopia. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
- ↑ Steger, Jason (19 May 2016). "Gillian Mears: Prize-winning author and euthanasia advocate dies". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 21 May 2016.
- ↑ ALS Gold Medal: Previous award winners, Association for the Study of Australian Literature, 2014, archived from the original on 11 December 2014
- ↑ Romei, Stephen (23 July 2012). "Mears wins PM's literary award for Foal's Bread". The Australian. News Limited.
- ↑ Bond, Sue (October 2002), A Map of the Gardens, archived from the original on 30 September 2012
External links
- Hawley, Janet (7 May 2002). "Runaway success". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 13 November 2015.