Gabrielle Carey (born 10 January 1959) is an Australian writer noted for the teen novel, ''

Puberty Blues ''Puberty Blues'' is a 1981 Australian coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Bruce Beresford, based on the 1979 novel of the same name (essentially a protofeminist teen novel) by Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey. Plot The story focuses o ...

'', which she co-wrote with

Kathy Lette Kathryn Marie Lette (born 11 November 1958) is an Australian-British author whose works have been best-sellers. Early life Lette was born on 11 November 1958 in Sydney's southern suburbs. She appeared in ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' of 20 Au ...

. This novel was the first teenage novel published in Australia that was written by teenagers. Carey has since become a senior lecturer in the Creative Writing program at the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

, studying

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

and

Randolph Stow Julian Randolph Stow (28 November 1935 – 29 May 2010) was an Australian-born writer, novelist and poet. Early life Born in Geraldton, Western Australia, Randolph Stow was the son of Mary Campbell Stow née Sewell and Cedric Ernest Stow, a ...

Career

Carey was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, New South Wales, Australia and was raised in an atheist, humanist household. Her father was Alex Carey. Carey met Kathy Lette at the age of 12 while still at school and became best friends. Both left school early (Carey at 15 and Lette a year later) against the wishes of their families. Leaving home, they shared a flat together and wrote ''Puberty Blues'', which was based on the lives of young male surfers in Sydney and their girlfriends. The novel shocked many people by its graphic description of teenage behaviour. Carey and Lette also wrote a column for the ''

Sun Herald The ''Sun Herald'' is a U.S. newspaper based in Biloxi, Mississippi, that serves readers along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The paper's current executive editor and general manager is Blake Kaplan and its headquarters is in the city of Gulfport ...

'', under the name "The Salami Sisters". Once the book was published Carey and Lette separated and their lives moved in different directions. In 1981,

Bruce Beresford Bruce Beresford (; born 16 August 1940) is an Australian film director who has made more than 30 feature films over a 50-year career, both locally and internationally in the United States. Beresford's notable films he has directed include ''Br ...

directed a film adaptation of the novel. A telefilm version of Carey's autobiographical book, '' Just Us'', an account of her relationship with Parramatta Gaol prisoner, Terry Haley, also was made in 1986. It was directed by Gordon Glenn from a screenplay by

Ted Roberts Edwin Dudley Roberts (17 April 1931 – 23 February 2015) was an Australian television screenwriter and supervising producer. Early life Roberts was born to Lesley Roberts and Louise Kearney in Strathfield, New South Wales. After completing h ...

. While in Ireland in the mid-1980s, she converted to the Catholic faith, becoming convinced of the importance of spirituality in everyday life. After a year in Ireland she left and for several years lived in a small village in Mexico, returning to Australia in the early 1990s. Her 2020 book, ''Only Happiness Here'', was shortlisted for the 2021 Nib Literary Award. Carey has a daughter and a son. She lives in Sydney and is a freelance writer, writing occasional articles for ''

The 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 ...

'' and other newspapers. She currently works as a lecturer in writing at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Bibliography

Novels

*''Puberty Blues'' with

(

McPhee Gribble McPhee Gribble was a Australian publishing firm, based in Carlton, Victoria. It became an imprint of the Penguin Group. History Founded by Di Gribble and Hilary McPhee in 1975 McPhee Gribble was the initial publisher of works by significant Au ...

, 1979) *''The Borrowed Girl'' (Picador, 1994)

Autobiography and memoir

*''Just Us'' (Penguin Books, 1984) *''In My Father's House'' (Pan Macmillan Publishers Australia, 1992) *''Moving among Strangers:

and My Family'' (University of Queensland Press, 2013) *''Falling Out of Love with Ivan Southall'' (Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2018)

Other non-fiction

*''The Penguin Book of Death'' with

Rosemary Sorensen Rosemary Sorensen (born 1954) is an Australian journalist, editor, and literary critic previously working for ''The Australian'', then for the '' Bendigo Weekly''.1959 births Living people 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian women writers Australian autobiographers Australian freelance journalists Australian Roman Catholics Australian women novelists Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism People from the Sutherland Shire University of Technology Sydney alumni University of Technology Sydney faculty Writers from Sydney Women autobiographers