Anne Buist is an Australian researcher and practising

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

specializing in women's mental health, in particular postpartum psychiatric illnesses. She is also a novelist, author of the Natalie King crime fiction series, and co-author, with her husband

Graeme Simsion Graeme C. Simsion (born 1956) is an Australian author, screenwriter, playwright and data modeller. Prior to becoming an author, Simsion was an information systems consultant, co-authoring the book ''Data Modelling Essentials,'' and worked in win ...

, of the novels ''

Two Steps Forward ''Two Steps Forward'' is a 2017 novel by Australian husband and wife novelists Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist. The work was first published on October 2, 2017 in Australia and New Zealand by Text Publishing. The novel follows two dissimil ...

'' (2017) and ''Two Steps Onward'' (2021).

Education

Buist has an M.B.B.S. from

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

in 1981 and was admitted as a Fellow of the

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) is the principal organisation representing the medical specialty of psychiatry in Australia and New Zealand and has responsibility for training, examining and awarding the qual ...

in 1989. She has an MMed from the University of Melbourne for research into infants exposed to antidepressants in breastmilk in 1992, and an MD from the University of Melbourne in 1999 for her study of the long-term effects of childhood abuse.

Career

From 1993 to 1997, Buist was Director of Psychiatry at the

Mercy Hospital for Women, Melbourne :''See Mercy Hospital for other medical facilities with the Mercy name.'' Mercy Hospital for Women, is based in Heidelberg adjacent to the Austin Hospital. The hospital offers obstetric, gynaecological and neonatal services and has one of only f ...

. She was appointed Associate Professor at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

in 1997 and Professor - Director of Women's Mental Health in 2006. Buist has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and is a past president of the Australasian Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health. She was director of the

Beyondblue Beyond Blue is an Australian mental health and wellbeing support organisation. They provide support programs to address issues related to depression, suicide, anxiety disorders and other related mental illnesses. The organisation works in pa ...

postnatal depression program from 2001 to 2005.

Writing

Buist wrote ten novels and novellas of erotic fiction (published by Siren Bookstrand) under the pseudonym Simone Sinna, an anagram of her married name, Anne Simsion. She published her first mainstream crime novel, ''Medea’s Curse'', in 2015 and a sequel ''Dangerous to Know'' in 2016. A third in the series, ''This I Would Kill For'' was published in January 2018. The novels feature protagonist Natalie King, a forensic psychiatrist with

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

. Medea's Curse was shortlisted for the

Davitt Awards The Davitt Awards are literary awards which are presented annually by the Sisters in Crime Australia association. The awards are named in honour of Ellen Davitt (1812–1879) who wrote Australia's first mystery novel, ''Force and Fraud'' in 1865 ...

(Best Adult Novel and Best Debut Crime categories). ''

'', a novel co-authored with her husband Graeme Simsion, was published in 2017. In April 2020 her crime novel, ''The Long Shadow'', was published by Text. ''Medea’s Curse'' has been optioned by Causeway Films and Two Steps Forward by Fox Searchlight with

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...

A Very Good Production A Very Good Production is an American film and television production company founded by comedian, television host, actress Ellen DeGeneres and Warner Bros. Television's Telepictures in 2003. It is known for producing the long-running series ''The ...

to produce.

Personal life

Buist has been married to novelist

since 1989 and they have two children. In 2011, she and Simsion walked the Camino de Santiago de Compostela/ Chemin de St Jacques from central France. The journey inspired their joint novel ''Two Steps Forward''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buist, Anne Australian women psychiatrists Australian women novelists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)