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]
Gillian Mears | |
|---|---|
| Born | 21 July 1964 Lismore, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 16 May 2016 (aged 51) Near Grafton, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Australian |
Life
editMears 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]
Bernadette Brennan has written a biography of Gillian Mears.[5]
Awards and honours
edit- 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
- 2011 Colin Roderick Award, winner, Foal's Bread
- 2012 ALS Gold Medal, Foal's Bread[6]
- 2012 Barbara Jefferis Award, shortlist, Foal's Bread[7]
- 2012 Miles Franklin Award, shortlist, Foal's Bread
- 2012 Prime Minister's Literary Awards, Fiction Award, Foal's Bread[8]
Works
editNovels
edit- —— (1991). The Mint Lawn. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781863730167.
- —— (1995). The Grass Sister. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 9780091831219.
- —— (2011). Foal's Bread. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781742376295.
Children's book
edit- —— (2015). The Cat with the Coloured Tail. Walker Books. ISBN 9781922077400. Illust. Dinale Dabarera
Short story collections
edit- —— (1988). Ride a Cock Horse. Pascoe Publishing. ISBN 9780947087128.
- —— (1990). Fineflour. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702223112.
- —— (1997). Collected Stories. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702229503.
- —— (2002). A Map of the Gardens: Stories. Pan Macmillan Australia. ISBN 9780330363464.[9]
Non-fiction
edit- —— (1997). Paradise Is a Place. Random House Australia. ISBN 9780091836412. Phot. Sandy Edwards
Essays
edit- Alive in Ant and Bee
- Fairy Death
References
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ Bernadette Brennan (September 2021). "Leaping into Waterfalls". Allen & Unwin. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ ALS Gold Medal: Previous award winners, Association for the Study of Australian Literature, 2014, archived from the original on 11 December 2014
- ^ Allen and Unwin, Foal's Bread
- ^ 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
Further reading
editExternal links
edit- Hawley, Janet (7 May 2002). "Runaway success". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 13 November 2015.
- Brennan, Bernadette. "Romance and reality" (PDF). Openbook. State Library of NSW. pp. 52–55. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
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