Emily Ballou is an Australian-American poet, novelist and screenwriter. Her poetry collection ''The Darwin Poems'', a verse portrait of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

, was published by

University of Western Australia Press UWA Publishing, formerly known as the Text Books Board and then University of Western Australia Press, is a Western Australian publisher established in 1935 by the University of Western Australia. It produces a range of non-fiction and fiction t ...

in 2009.Award-winning book of poetry shortlisted for national award , University News : University News : The University of Western Australia
News.uwa.edu.au (2010-06-17). Retrieved on 2010-11-22. It was written as part of an

Australia Council for the Arts The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...

residency at the

Tyrone Guthrie Centre The Tyrone Guthrie Centre, often known as ''Annaghmakerrig'', is a residential facility for creative artists. Located at Annaghmakerrig, Newbliss, County Monaghan, Ireland, it was founded in 1981. The house was the family home of theatrical dir ...

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ga, Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Cou ...

, Ireland.Poetry – 2010 – Poetica – Subjects A-Z
Abc.net.au. Retrieved on 2010-11-22.

Background

Emily Ballou was born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, Wisconsin. She studied Film and English at

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscons ...

, graduating with a Bachelor in Fine Arts with Honours and completed a Master of Letters in Gender and Cultural Studies at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

. She subsequently immigrated to Australia. She now lives in Glasgow, Scotland.

Career

She wrote the "Anouk" and "Aisha" episodes of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television mini-series '' The Slap'', the original adaptation of

Christos Tsiolkas Christos Tsiolkas is an Australian author, playwright, and screenwriter. He is especially known for '' The Slap'', which was both well-received critically and highly successful commercially. Several of his books have been adapted for film and t ...

’ novel of the same name, which won the 2012

AWGIE Awards The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967. The awards are judged by over 50 writers, most of whom are previou ...

for Television Mini-Series (Adaptation). It was aired in the UK on BBC4 and nominated for a

Royal Television Society Award The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

, a BAFTA award and an

International Emmy The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based International Academy of Television Arts and Sci ...

Award. Ballou has also written episodes of

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

/ FX ''

Taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

'',

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

Humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

'', BBC One's ''

Case Histories ''Case Histories'' (2004) is a detective novel by British author Kate Atkinson and is set in Cambridge, England. It introduces Jackson Brodie, a former police inspector and now private investigator. The plot revolves around three seemingly unc ...

'' (series 2, "Nobody's Darling"),

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's ''

Scott & Bailey ''Scott & Bailey'' is a British police procedural series that debuted on ITV on 29 May 2011 and concluded on 27 April 2016. The series stars Suranne Jones, Lesley Sharp, Amelia Bullmore, Nicholas Gleaves, Danny Miller and Pippa Haywood. The s ...

'',

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

's TV movie ''American Blackout'', co-written with

Ewan Morrison Ewan Morrison is a Scottish author and screenwriter, described as "the most fluent and intelligent writer of his generation here in Scotland" by Booker judge Stuart Kelly. Early life Morrison was born in Wick, Caithness in 1968, son of the si ...

, and ''Family'', directed by

Shaun Gladwell Shaun Gladwell (born 1972) is an Australian contemporary artist whose work spans moving image, painting, photography, sculpture, installation, performance and virtual reality. Early life Gladwell was born in Sydney in 1972 and graduated from Syd ...

in the anthology film '' The Turning'', adapted from

Tim Winton Timothy John Winton (born 4 August 1960) is an Australian writer. He has written novels, children's books, non-fiction books, and short stories. In 1997, he was named a Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia, and has won the Miles Fr ...

's book of short stories and screened in the Berlinale Special Galas section of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. She is also the author of the novels ''Father Lands'' (

Picador A ''picador'' (; pl. ''picadores'') is one of the pair of horse-mounted bullfighters in a Spanish-style bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. They perform in the ''tercio de varas'', which is the first of the three stages in a stylized bullf ...

, 2002),Next stop after the comfort zone
smh.com.au (2002-12-21). Retrieved on 2010-11-22. ''Aphelion'' (Picador, 2007) and the picture book ''One Blue Sock'' (with illustrations by Stephen Michael King) (

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

, 2007).

Awards and nominations

* 1997 – The Ibis Foundation's Judith Wright Prize for Poetry for the poem "Enter" * 2003 –

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

Best Young Novelist for ''Father Lands''The Sydney Morning Herald Blogs: Entertainment
Blogs.smh.com.au. Retrieved on 2010-11-22. * 2009 – Wesley Michel Wright Poetry Prize for ''The Darwin Poems'' *2009 –

Fellowship of Australian Writers The Fellowship of Australian Writers (FAW) was established in Sydney in 1928, with the aim of bringing writers together and promoting their interests. The organisation played a key role in the establishment of the Australian Society of Authors in ...

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 ...

: Highly Commended for ''The Darwin Poems'' * 2010 –

Mary Gilmore Prize __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 awar ...

: Shortlisted for ''The Darwin Poems'' * 2010 –

Australian Literature Society Gold Medal The Australian Literature Society Gold Medal (ALS Gold Medal) is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature for "an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year." From 1928 to 1974 it was awarded by the ...

: Shortlisted for ''The Darwin Poems'' * 2010 –

Western Australian Premier's Book Awards The Western Australian Premier's Book Awards is an annual book award provided by the Government of Western Australia, and managed by the State Library of Western Australia. History and format Annual literary awards were inaugurated by the Wes ...

: Shortlisted for ''The Darwin Poems''Western Australian Premier's Book Awards: State Library of Western Australia
. Slwa.wa.gov.au. Retrieved on 2010-11-22. * 2010 –

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, t ...

: Shortlisted for ''The Darwin Poems''Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry – NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2011
. Pla.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved on 2010-11-22.

Bibliography

*2002 – ''Father Lands'', Picador: Pan Macmillan Australia, , . *2007 – ''One Blue Sock'', Random House Australia, , . *2007 – ''Aphelion'', Picador: Pan Macmillan Australia, , . *2009 – ''The Darwin Poems'', University of Western Australia Press, , .

Anthologies

*2008 – "On the Splice", ''Best Australian Short Stories''Falconer, D (ed.) (2008). "On the Splice", ''Best Australian Short Stories'', Black Inc., . *2009 – "Here is a Hair from Her Head", ''Best Australian Short Stories''Falconer, D (ed.) (2009). "Here is a Hair From Her Head", ''Best Australian Short Stories'', Black Inc., . *2010 – "Darwin as Metaphor", ''Journal 19: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Long Nineteenth Century'', Birkbeck: University of London, No. 11, pp. 1–17.No 11 (2010)
. 19.bbk.ac.uk. Retrieved on 2010-11-22. *2010 – "The Beach", ''The Penguin Book of the Ocean''Bradley, J (ed.) (2010). "The Beach", ''The Penguin Book of the Ocean'', Penguin Australia,

References

External links

*
Emily Ballou interviewed for the Darwin Correspondence Project

Emily Ballou "Darwin as Metaphor", Journal 19

* ttp://thirdcoastdigest.com/2010/08/podcast-the-darwin-poems/ Emily Ballou interviewed by Mark Metcalf, Aug 19th, 2010
"Darwin's Noah" on YouTube

Emily Ballou reads "The Kite", The Red Room Company

Emily Ballou interviewed by Magdalena Ball for The Compulsive Reader

Emily Ballou interviews Hanif Kureshi for The Australian Magazine, Nov 15th, 2008

Emily Ballou "Twenty Questions for the Nation", New Matilda, May 1, 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballou, Emily Living people University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American poets American women novelists American television producers American television writers Novelists from Wisconsin 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American women writers