Doris Brett (born 1950) is an Australian writer and

clinical psychologist Clinical psychology is an integration of social science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and persona ...

. She has written in a number of genres, including poetry, memoir and nonfiction.

Early life and education

Brett was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1950 to Polish Jewish parents. She is the younger sister of writer,

Lily Brett Lily Brett (born Lilijahne Brajtsztajn 5 September 1946, Feldafing displaced persons camp, Bavaria, Germany) is an Australian novelist, essayist and poet. She lived in North Carlton and then Elwood/Caulfield (suburbs of Melbourne) from 1948 to ...

. She was educated at Lee Street State School in Carlton where she was inspired by

Gerald Murnane Gerald Murnane (born 25 February 1939) is an Australian writer, perhaps best known for his novel ''The Plains'' (1982). ''The New York Times'', in a big feature published on 27 March 2018, called him "the greatest living English-language writer ...

who taught her in 4th grade. She took her undergraduate degree at the University of New England, gaining a BA in psychology and English. She completed a MA in psychology 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 ...

(MA) in 1974 and qualified as a clinical psychologist. In 2002 she was awarded a PhD by

Victoria University of Technology Victoria University (VU or Vic Uni) is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is one of only six dual-sector universities in Australia, providing courses in both higher education and Technical and Further Educat ...

(now Victoria University) for her thesis, "Eating the Underworld: A memoir in three voices".

Career

Alongside working as a psychologist, Brett conducted bread-making workshops to earn money to fund visits to the United States to develop her skills in hypnosis for her clinical practice. Her first published book was ''Doris Brett's Australian Bread Book''. Brett's first published poem, "Motel", appeared in '' The Bulletin'' in 1980. In 1984 she won the inaugural

Mary Gilmore Award __NOTOC__ The Mary Gilmore Award is currently an annual Australian literary award for poetry, awarded by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Since being established in 1956 as the ACTU Dame Mary Gilmore Award, it has been award ...

for a first book of poetry. Her poems have appeared in literary journals such as ''Poetry Australia'', ''Island'', ''Luna'' and ''Overland'' and in ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' newspaper as well as in the ''

New Oxford Book of Australian Verse The ''New Oxford Book of Australian Verse'' is a major anthology of Australian poetry edited by the poet Les Murray. It was first published in 1986 and since has been expanded twice. The anthology gives a broad view of Australian poetry. It ran ...

''. Brett worked as a psychotherapist in the oncology unit at the Alfred Hospital for eight years prior to her own diagnosis with ovarian cancer in 1994. Following surgery and treatment she recovered but cancer returned in 1996. She found storytelling through writing poetry and prose was a way of making sense of her life. She also draws on her dreams for inspiration. Brett practices as a clinical psychologist in Melbourne, where she lives with her husband. She has a daughter, Amantha.

Awards

*''The Truth About Unicorns'' ** Winner,

Anne Elder Award The Anne Elder Trust Fund Award for poetry was administered by the Victorian branch of the Fellowship of Australian Writers from its establishment in 1976 until 2017. From 2018 the award has been administered by Australian Poetry. It is awarded ann ...

, 1984 ** Winner,

, 1985 * ''In the Constellation of the Crab'' ** Shortlisted, Banjo Award for Poetry, 1997 * "Pages from the Other World Snap Shots from a Journey Through Illness" in ''Island'' ** Winner,

Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize The Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize (also known as the Gwen Harwood Memorial Poetry Prize) was created in 1996 in memory of the Tasmanian poet, Gwen Harwood. The prize is run by Island Magazine and is awarded to a single poem or a linked suite of poems. ...

, 1998

Selected works

* ''Doris Brett's Australian bread book'' (1984) cookery * ''The Truth About Unicorns'' (1984) poetry * ''Annie's Stories: A special kind of storytelling'' (1988) nonfiction * ''More Annie Stories'' (1990 in the US, 1997 in Australia) nonfiction * ''Looking for Unicorns'' (1992) novel * ''In the Constellation of the Crab'' (1996) poetry * ''Eating the Underworld'' (2001) memoir *''The Sunday Story Club'' (2019) nonfiction co-written by Kerry Cue

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brett, Doris 1950 births Living people 20th-century Australian women writers 21st-century Australian women writers 20th-century Australian poets Australian psychologists Victoria University, Melbourne alumni