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 edit
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]
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 Barbara Jefferis Award, shortlist, Foal's Bread[6]
- 2012 Miles Franklin Award, shortlist, Foal's Bread
- 2012 Australian Literature Society, Gold Medal, Foal's Bread[7]
- 2012 Prime Minister's Literary Awards, Fiction Award, Foal's Bread[8]
Works edit
Novels edit
- 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 edit
- 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[9]
Non-fiction edit
- Paradise is a place, Photographer Sandy Edwards, Random House Australia, 1997, ISBN 978-0-09-183641-2
Essays edit
- Alive in Ant and Bee
- Fairy Death
Children's book edit
- The Cat with the Coloured Tail, Walker Books, 2015, ISBN 9781922077400 (illustrated by Dinale Dabarera)
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.
- ^ Allen and Unwin, Foal's Bread
- ^ 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
Further reading edit
External 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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