Jane Rawson is an Australian writer and environmentalist. She has published four books, and is best known for her 2017 novel '' From the Wreck'', which won the Aurealis Award for best science fiction novel. In 2018 Rawson was a recipient of the

Australia Council 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 ...

grants for arts projects for individuals and groups in the literature category to the value of

AU$ The Australian dollar (sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of Australia, including its external territories: Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island. It is officially used as currency by three independent Pacific Island s ...

34,830.

Life

Rawson was born and schooled in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, Australia. After studying journalism at the

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...

, she relocated to

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 ...

where she was employed as a travel writer by

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History Early years Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarked ...

. Her job took her to several destinations around the world, including California,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

and

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

. After running out of money, Rawson returned to Melbourne where she became editor of the environment and energy section of a news website, ''

The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Teri Garr, and Rober ...

''. In 2013 Rawson moved to the

Huon Valley The Huon Valley, or simply the Huon, is a valley and geographic area located in southern Tasmania, Australia. The largest town is Huonville, with other smaller towns spread across the area. It includes Australia's most southern permanent settle ...

in Tasmania where she took up employment as a

bureaucrat A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", ...

. Rawson has published several essays on environment issues, and in 2003 she and James Whitmore co-authored a book, ''The Handbook: Surviving and Living with Climate Change''. Between 2013 and 2017, Rawson published three works of fiction, including ''Formaldehyde'', a novella with elements of absurdist science fiction and magic realism, and '' From the Wreck'', a science fiction novel of

first contact First contact may refer to: *First contact (astronomy), the moment in astronomical transit when the apparent positions of the two bodies first touch *First contact (anthropology), the first meeting of two cultures previously unaware of one another ...

featuring a

shapeshifting In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, Magic (paranormal), sorcery, Incantation, ...

alien. ''From the Wreck'' won the 2017 Aurealis Award for best science fiction novel, and is a fictionalised account of Rawson's great-great-grandfather George Hills, a survivor from the shipwreck of the Australian

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

the SS ''Admella'' in 1859. Rawson said in an interview that despite all the problems associated with being a novelist, she admits to enjoying it: "You're making this magical, beautiful imaginary thing out of absolutely nothing that you could share with other people if you want or you could just do it for the joy of finishing it … It doesn’t hurt anyone." She singled out

Ali Smith Ali Smith CBE FRSL (born 24 August 1962) is a Scottish author, playwright, academic and journalist. Sebastian Barry described her in 2016 as "Scotland's Nobel laureate-in-waiting". Early life and education Smith was born in Inverness on 24 Au ...

and

George Saunders George Saunders (born December 2, 1958) is an American writer of short stories, essays, novellas, children's books, and novels. His writing has appeared in ''The New Yorker'', '' Harper's'', ''McSweeney's'', and '' GQ''. He also contributed a w ...

are two writers she admires. "I really like writers who have a strong voice and a very tender, rueful attitude towards humans; those who know what a fucking disaster we all are." Rawson said that her next book will probably be about exploring "authoritarianism and individualism in society." She explained that she wants to investigate claims that Australia almost sided with Germany during the Second World War.

Bibliography

Fiction

;Novels *''A Wrong Turn at the Office of Unmade Lists'' (

Transit Lounge Transit Lounge Publishing is an independent Australian literary small press founded in Melbourne in 2005. It publishes literary fiction, narrative and trade non-fiction. The books it publishes show the diversity of Australian culture. Distribu ...

, 2013) *'' From the Wreck'' (Transit Lounge, 2017) *''A History of Dreams'' (Brio Books, 2022) ;Novellas *''Formaldehyde'' (Seizure, 2015) ;Short stories *"Instructions for an Installation" (appears in ''Normal Service Will Resume: Fast Fiction for Any Trip'', Cardigan Press, 2003) *"A Dynasty of Square Standers" (Vignette Press, 2008) – published separately *"In Registry" (appears in ''The Sleepers Almanac No. 5'', Sleepers Publishing, 2009) – as J. B. Rawson *"We Saw the Same Sky" (appears in '' Overland'' no. 218, 2015) *"The Reference" (appears in ''Tincture Journal'' no. 12, 2015) *"Lake" (appears in ''Review of Australian Fiction'', vol. 19 no. 2, 2016) *"The Unwild World" (appears in ''Seizure'', December 2016) *"One Short Mile from Land" (appears in ''

Griffith Review ''Griffith Review'' is a quarterly publication featuring essays, reportage, memoir, fiction, poetry and artwork from established and emerging writers and artists. Each edition focuses on a contemporary theme, enabling pertinent issues to be aired ...

'', no. 55, 2017) *"Amy's Twin" (appears in ''Review of Australian Fiction'', vol. 23 no. 1, 2017) *"The Right Side of History" (appears in ''Ecopunk! Speculative Tales of Radical Futures'',

Ticonderoga Publications Ticonderoga Publications is an Australian independent publishing house founded by Russell B. Farr in 1996 and now run by Farr and Liz Grzyb. The publisher specializes in collections of science fiction short stories. History and current Tico ...

, 2017) *"Kangaroo" (appears in '' Kill Your Darlings'' April 2019)

Non-fiction

*Jane Rawson and James Whitmore: ''The Handbook: Surviving and Living with Climate Change'' (Transit Lounge, 2015) Source: AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource

Awards

*2014 – Most Underrated Book Award for ''A Wrong Turn at the Office of Unmade Lists'' *2015 –

Viva la Novella Viva may refer to: Companies and organisations * Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator * Viva Air, a Spanish airline taken over by flag carrier Iberia * Viva Air Dominicana * VIVA Bahrain, a telecommunication company * V ...

Award for ''Formaldehyde'' *2017 – Aurealis Award for best science fiction novel for '' From the Wreck'' *2018 – Recipient of the

grants for arts projects for individuals and groups in the literature category (

34,830.00)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawson, Jane Living people Australian science fiction writers Australian non-fiction writers Australian women novelists 21st-century Australian women 21st-century Australian writers Australian women environmentalists Year of birth missing (living people)