Joanne Fedler (born 1967) is an Australian author. She is the author of 10 books including ''Secret Mothers' Business''; ''When Hungry, Eat''; and ''Your Story: How to Write It so Others Will Want to Read It''.

Biography

Fedler was born in South Africa and has studied law in both South Africa and the US. She has law degrees from the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

and from

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

which she attended on a Fulbright scholarship in 1993. She was a lecturer in law at the

from 1994–1995. She lives in Sydney with her husband and two children.

Books

Her first novel, ''The Dreamcloth'', was published by Jacana MediaJacana
/ref> in 2005. ''The Dreamcloth'' was nominated for the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' Fiction Prize in 2006. Jennifer Crocker wrote that "''The Dreamcloth'' marks a watershed moment in South African fiction." In 2006, her book ''Secret Mothers' Business'' was published in Australia by Allen & Unwin. It has also been published in South Africa and the United Kingdom, with rights sold in Germany,

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. To date it has sold over 600,000 copies worldwide. She is also the author of ''Things Without A Name'', a contemporary love story set in the world of rape and

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

, published by

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...

(2008); ''When Hungry, Eat'' (2010), Allen & Unwin; ''It Doesn't Have to Be So Hard: the Secrets to Finding and Keeping Intimacy'', co-authored with

Graeme Friedman Graeme Friedman is a clinical psychologist and an award-winning writer whose short stories have appeared in anthologies published internationally. His book ''The Fossil Artist'' (Jacana, 2010), a novel about crime, authenticity, what it means to be ...

, (2012) Random House; ''The Reunion'', published by Allen & Unwin (2012); and ''Love in the Time of Contempt: Consolation for Parents of Teenagers'', Hardie Grant Books (2015). Her latest book, ''Your Story: How to Write It so Others Will Want to Read It'' was published by Hay House in 2017.

Activism

Joanne Fedler has made appearances at the Sydney Writers Festival, the Jewish Sydney Writers Festival, the Dymocks Literacy Foundation Great Debate, and the Gidget Foundation to raise money for

post-natal depression Postpartum depression (PPD), also called postnatal depression, is a type of mood disorder associated with childbirth, which can affect both sexes. Symptoms may include extreme sadness, low energy, anxiety, crying episodes, irritability, and chan ...

. In 1996, she set up a legal advocacy centre to end

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls, usually by men or boys. Such violence is often consi ...

of which she was the CEO until 1998. Joanne was also one of the founding directors of Moonstone Media, which produces and publishes branded books designed to enhance organisations and businesses profiles in their markets. In 2006, Moonstone Media published ''A Pocketful of Sequins'', a book of inspirational quotes by people whose lives have been affected by breast cancer for the three national breast cancer organisations in Australia to raise money for breast cancer research.

References

Notes

Bibliography

;Books #
Your Story: how to write it so others will want to read it
', Hay House, 2017 #''It Doesn't Have To Be So Hard: the Secrets to Finding and Keeping Intimacy'', forthcoming

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 ...

, 2012. Co-written with

(''The Fossil Artist''). #''When Hungry, Eat'',

, 2010. #''Things Without A Name'',

, 2008. #''Secret Mothers' Business'',

, 2006. #''The Dreamcloth'', Jacana Media, 2005. #''25 Essential Things you should do before getting married'', sixtyminutebooks, 2003. #''An Endless Ball of String'', The Life Story Project, Sydney, 2004. #''My Maria'', The Life Story Project, Sydney, 2003. #''Ideological Virgins and Other Myths: six principles for legal revisioning'', co-editor, Law Race and Gender Unit,

UCT The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university stat ...

and Justice College, 2001. #''Reclaiming Women's Spaces: New Perspectives on

Violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls, usually by men or boys. Such violence is often consi ...

in South Africa'', Nisaa Institute for Women's Development, co-editor with Yoon Park and Zubeda Dangor, 2000. #''Tshwaranang National Legal Manual for Counsellors of Raped and Battered Women'', Progress Press,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, South Africa 1999. ;Academic articles # 'The idea of changing places in intercultural communication,' Communitas Journal for Community Communication and Information Impact, (with Ilze Olckers), vol 6, 2001 at 1. # 'Affirmative Action for South African women through the Employment Equity Act: will women benefit economically?' Lola Press, April 2000. # 'Violence against women,' in chapter on Equality, LAWSA, Butterworths, 1997. # 'Pornography: Reasonable and Justifiable Limitations,' in The Constitution of South Africa from a Gender Perspective, edited by Sandra Liebenberg, The Community Law Centre,

University of the Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is a public research university in Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the South African government as a university for Coloured people only. Other un ...

, 1995 at 143. # 'A

Feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

Perspective on Pornography,' in Between Speech and Silence: Hate Speech, Pornography and the New South Africa, edited by Jane Duncan, FXI and IDASA, 1996 at 44. # 'The Right to Life,' in

Constitutional Law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

of South Africa loose-leaf service, eds Chaskalson et al., 1996, Juta & Co. # 'Lawyering

Domestic Violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

through the Prevention of Family Violence Act: an evaluation after a year in operation,' 1995

South African Law Journal The ''South African Law Journal'' is a quarterly law journal published by Juta & Co. It is South Africa's leading law journal and the second oldest law journal in the world, after the ''University of Pennsylvania Law Review''. History The ''SA ...

112 at 231. # 'Legal Education in South Africa,' 72

Oregon Law Review The University of Oregon School of Law is a public law school in the U.S. state of Oregon. Housed in the Knight Law Center, it is Oregon's only state funded law school. The school, founded in 1884, is located on the University of Oregon campus in ...

(1993) at 999. # 'On Dual Becomings: Towards Womanist Lawyering,' 1994 Agenda 21. # 'The Reasonable Man in a Post-

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

South Africa,' 3

Wits University The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

Student Law Review 1991 at 1. # 'The Inequitable Contract and the Role of South African Courts,' 2

Student Law Review 1990 at 56.

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fedler, Joanne 1967 births Living people 21st-century Australian novelists Australian non-fiction writers Australian women novelists Jewish Australian writers South African emigrants to Australia South African Jews Writers from Sydney 21st-century Australian women writers