Catherine Elizabeth Grenville (born 1950) is an Australian author. She has published fifteen books, including fiction, non-fiction, biography, and books about the writing process. In 2001, she won the
Orange Prize
The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...
Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...
for ''
The Secret River
''The Secret River'' is a 2005 historical novel by Kate Grenville about an early 19th-century Englishman transported to Australia for theft. The story explores what might have happened when Europeans colonised land already inhabited by Aborigi ...
''. ''The Secret River'' was also shortlisted for the
Man Booker Prize
The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...
.
Her novels have been published worldwide and have been translated into many languages. Three have been adapted into feature films. ''The Secret River'' was adapted for the stage by
Andrew Bovell
Andrew Bovell (born 23 November 1962) is an Australian writer for theatre, film and television.
Life
Bovell was born on 23 November 1962 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia and completed his secondary school education in Perth. He graduated from t ...
and toured by the
Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Thea ...
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 ...
(BA Hons) and the
University of Colorado
The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...
(MA). After completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Sydney, Grenville worked in the film industry, mostly editing documentaries at
Film Australia
Film Australia was a company established by the Government of Australia to produce films about Australia in 1973. Its predecessors were the Cinema and Photographic Branch (1913–38), the Australian National Film Board (1939–1955, under diffe ...
. She has also been a teacher of
creative writing
Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...
. Between 1976 and 1980 she lived in London and Paris, and wrote fiction while supporting herself by doing film-editing, writing, and secretarial jobs. In 1980 she went to the
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sys ...
to do a master's degree in creative writing. She returned to Australia in 1983 and became a sub-editor at
SBS Television
The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...
in the
subtitling
Subtitles and captions are lines of dialogue or other text displayed at the bottom of the screen in films, television programs, video games or other visual media. They can be transcriptions of the screenplay, translations of it, or informati ...
department. She won a literary grant in 1986 and left SBS to pursue her writing. Since the early 1990s she has been an Honorary Associate 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 ...
.
In 2006 she was awarded a Doctorate of Creative Arts by 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 ...
Peter Ellis, Interview with Kate Grenville, 1 August 2009. under the supervision of
Glenda Adams
Glenda Emilie Adams (née Felton; 30 December 1939 – 11 July 2007) was an Australian novelist and short story writer, probably best known as the winner of the 1987 Miles Franklin Award for '' Dancing on Coral''. She was a teacher of creative ...
and Paula Hamilton. She has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Sydney, the
University of NSW
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...
, and
Macquarie University
Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...
.
In 2017 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award from the Australia Council and in 2018 was appointed an
Officer of the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
.
Grenville has been married to Robert Steiner and cartoonist
Bruce Petty
Bruce Leslie Petty, born 23 November 1929 at Doncaster, a suburb of Melbourne, is one of Australia's best known political satirists and cartoonists. and performing in an amateur orchestra.
Career
Kate Grenville's reputation as a short story writer was made by the publication in 1984 of her collection ''
Bearded Ladies
A bearded lady (or bearded woman) is a female with a naturally occurring beard normally due to the condition known as hirsutism or hypertrichosis. Hypertrichosis causes people of either sex to develop excess hair over their entire body (including ...
''.Whitlock (1989), p. 2. On its publication, Peter Carey wrote "Here is someone who can really write".
''
Lilian's Story
''Lilian's Story'' is a 1996 Australian film based on a 1985 novel by Australian author Kate Grenville, which was inspired by the life of Bea Miles, a famous Sydney nonconformist. The film stars Ruth Cracknell as Lilian and Barry Otto. Cracknell ...
'' was her first published novel (1985) and won
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award
''The Australian''/Vogel Literary Award is an Australian literary award for unpublished manuscripts by writers under the age of 35. The prize money, currently A$20,000, is the richest and most prestigious award for an unpublished manuscript in ...
. It was loosely based on the story of
Bea Miles
Beatrice Miles (17 September 19023 December 1973) was an Australian eccentric and bohemian rebel. Described as Sydney's "iconic eccentric", she was known for her contentious relationships with the city's taxi drivers and for her ability to quot ...
, known in Sydney for her eccentric public behaviour. It has become one of Australia's best-loved novels and in 1996 was made into a film starring
Ruth Cracknell
Ruth Winifred Cracknell AM (6 July 1925 – 13 May 2002) was an Australian character and comic actress, comedienne and author, her career encompassing all genres including radio, theatre, television and film. She appeared in many dramatic as we ...
and
Toni Collette
Toni Collette Galafassi (born Toni Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, producer, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television and independent films, she has received various accolades throughout her career, includ ...
; Collette won the
Australian Film Institute
The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsib ...
award for supporting actress for her performance as the young Lilian.
'' Dreamhouse'' followed in 1986, and appeared as the 1994 film '' Traps''. '' Joan Makes History'' – the recipient of an Australian Bicentennial Commission – was published in 1988.
In 1994 Grenville returned to the characters and setting of ''Lilian's Story'' with a companion novel – '' Dark Places'' – that re-tells the events of the earlier novel from the point of view of Lilian's incestuous father. ''Dark Places'' won the
Victorian Premier's Literary Award
The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary p ...
in 1995. (In the US this novel is titled ''Albion's Story''.)
'' The Idea of Perfection'' appeared in 2000 and won the Orange Prize for Fiction, at the time Britain's richest literary award.
In 2006 ''
The Secret River
''The Secret River'' is a 2005 historical novel by Kate Grenville about an early 19th-century Englishman transported to Australia for theft. The story explores what might have happened when Europeans colonised land already inhabited by Aborigi ...
'' was published, the first of Grenville's books that take Australia's colonial past, and relations with Australia's indigenous people, as their subject. ''The Secret River'' was inspired by the story of Grenville's own great-great-great grandfather, a
convict
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...
Man Booker Prize
The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...
.
''Searching for The Secret River'' (2006) is a memoir about the research and writing of the novel, tracing the journey of the author's increasing awareness of how Australia's colonial past informs its present.
''
The Lieutenant
''The Lieutenant'' is an American television series, the first created by Gene Roddenberry. It aired on NBC on Saturday evenings in the 1963–1964 television schedule. It was produced by Arena Productions, one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's most ...
'' (2008) is set thirty years earlier than ''The Secret River''. Based on the historical notebooks of Lieutenant
William Dawes
William Dawes Jr. (April 6, 1745 – February 25, 1799) was one of several men who in April 1775 alerted colonial minutemen in Massachusetts of the approach of British army troops prior to the Battles of Lexington and Concord at the outse ...
, it tells the story of the friendship between a soldier with the
First Fleet
The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...
and a young
Gadigal
The Cadigal, also spelled as Gadigal and Caddiegal, are a group of Indigenous people whose traditional lands are located in Gadi, on Eora country, the location of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The Gadigal originally inhabited the area that ...
girl. These two novels together explore something of the complexity of black-white relations in Australia's past.
''
Sarah Thornhill
''Sarah Thornhill'' (2011) is a novel by Australian author Kate Grenville. It is the sequel to the author's 2005 novel ''The Secret River''.
It won the 2012 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Australian General Fiction Book of the Year ...
'' (2011) is the sequel to ''The Secret River'' and takes up the story of William Thornhill's youngest daughter. It can be read as a stand-alone novel, without reference to ''The Secret River''.
In 2015 Grenville published ''One Life: My Mother's Story'', in which she uses the fragments of memoir that her mother left to construct the story of a woman whose life - in some ways typical of her times, in other ways remarkable - spanned a century of tumult and dramatic change.
Grenville has also written or co-written several books about the writing process which are widely used in creative writing workshops and in schools and universities: ''The Writing Book'', ''Writing from Start to Finish'', and ''Making Stories'' (co-written with Sue Woolfe).
In 2017 she published a book about the politics and health effects of artificial scents, ''The Case Against Fragrance''.
Her latest book (published July 2020) is a novel that takes its inspiration from the life of Elizabeth Macarthur, a settler in early Australia: ''A Room Made of Leaves''.
Grenville has been awarded fellowships from the International Association of University Women and from the Literary Arts Board 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 ...
. Her novels have all been published in the UK and US as well as Australia and have been translated into many languages, including German, Swedish, French, Hebrew and Chinese. Two have been made into feature films. ''The Secret River'' was made into a TV mini-series, and adapted (by Andrew Bovell) as a play that had sell-out runs at the Adelaide and Edinburgh Festivals.
Style and subject matter
Grenville's early fiction presented characters trying to free themselves from social and gender stereotypes. ''Bearded Ladies'' is a collection of short stories about women trying to free themselves from the gender stereotypes of their society.
''Lilian's Story'', set in the early 20th century, takes as its subject a woman who rejects her middle-class background and the conventional future that is expected of her, and instead chooses to live as a street person, making a living by offering recitations from
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
. At the end of her life she declares joyously: "Drive on, George. I am ready for whatever comes next."
''Joan Makes History'' is a satirical re-writing of Australia's history, foregrounding the women rather than the men. Joan is an Everywoman character who in various guises lives through all the iconic moments of Australia's past. She "makes history" both by simply living her life, and by (re)making history by writing it.
''Dreamhouse'' is a black comedy about a marriage on the rocks. It explores themes of both men and women freeing themselves from stereotypes to accept their true selves. Both partners in the marriage are attracted to their own sex: the wife is prepared to acknowledge that and act on it while the husband refuses to.
''The Idea of Perfection'' is about people haunted by the impossible ideal of perfection. The two main characters are both middle-aged and frumpish, and consider themselves unlovably flawed. The journey they make is to recognise that to be "imperfect" is simply to be human, and carries its own power. As the epigraph from
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
asserts: "An arch is two weaknesses that together make a strength".
''The Secret River'' is set in early 19th-century Australia and is based on the story of one of Grenville's convict ancestors,
Solomon Wiseman
Solomon Wiseman (16 April 1777 - 28 November 1838) was a convict, merchant and ferryman
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger fe ...
, a London boatman transported for theft. She takes that story as a means of exploring a wider theme: the dark legacy of
colonialism
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...
, especially its impact on Australia's Aboriginal peoples. The title comes from the anthropologist W. E. H. Stanner, who wrote about a "secret river of blood flowing through Australia's history": the story of white Australia's relationship with the Aboriginal people.
Grenville has written a memoir of the research and writing of ''The Secret River'', entitled ''Searching for the Secret River''.
''The Lieutenant'' is the story of one of the very earliest moments of black-white relationship in Australia, at the time of first settlement in 1788. Based on a historical source – the
Gadigal
The Cadigal, also spelled as Gadigal and Caddiegal, are a group of Indigenous people whose traditional lands are located in Gadi, on Eora country, the location of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The Gadigal originally inhabited the area that ...
-language notebooks of Lieutenant
William Dawes
William Dawes Jr. (April 6, 1745 – February 25, 1799) was one of several men who in April 1775 alerted colonial minutemen in Massachusetts of the approach of British army troops prior to the Battles of Lexington and Concord at the outse ...
– the novel tells the story of a unique friendship. In learning the Gadigal language from a young girl, Dawes wrote down word-for-word parts of their conversations. Grenville has used these fragments as the basis for a novel exploring how it might be possible for two people to reach across the gulfs of language and culture that separate them, and arrive at a relationship of mutual warmth and respect. She has described it as a "mirror-image" of ''The Secret River.''
''Sarah Thornhill'' is a sequel to ''The Secret River''. It tells the story of one of the children of the main character in the earlier book. Sarah Thornhill grows up knowing nothing of the dark secret in her family's past, and when she has to confront it, the direction of her life and her thinking is changed. It's a story about secrets and lies, and how to deal with a dark legacy from the past. Grenville has said that the book is set in the 19th century, but is as much about the ugly secrets in Australian history that her own generation inherited.
These three books form a loose trilogy – "The Colonial Trilogy" – about the first three generations of white settlement in Australia, and what that shared black/white history means for contemporary Australians. The themes of the three books reach beyond Australia: all are widely read in other countries where colonialism has left a problematic legacy.
''A Room Made of Leaves'' returns to this subject and can be seen as a fourth novel in this series. It takes as its starting-point the life of Elizabeth Macarthur, wife of early wool baron John Macarthur. It tells the story of that remarkable woman, but its underlying theme is about the way false stories can come to replace the truth.
Grenville frequently does extensive research for her novels, often using historical or other sources as the starting-point for the work of the imagination. She says of her books that they are "sometimes inspired by historical events, but they are imaginative constructs, not an attempt to write history".
Some years after her mother died, Grenville put together a book about her, based on the memoirs and recordings her mother left. The result is ''One Life: My Mother's Story'', a book about a woman born in 1912 who rode the waves of tumultuous change that happened over the course of her life.
Grenville's most recent non-fiction book is about the health problems that can be caused by the synthetic fragrances that are all around us: ''The Case Against Fragrance''. In this book she recounts the difficulties she has personally experienced due to fragrances in the environment and discusses the latest research findings by Dr Anne Steinemann and others.
Awards and nominations
* Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA) in 2008
* Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...
in 2010
* Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Sydney in 2012
* Honorary Doctorate of Letters from
Macquarie University
Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...
in 2013
* The Dixson Medal awarded by the Library Council of New South Wales in 2014
*Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature from the Australia Council in 2017
*
Officer of the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
in 2018
Prizes
* 1984 –
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award
''The Australian''/Vogel Literary Award is an Australian literary award for unpublished manuscripts by writers under the age of 35. The prize money, currently A$20,000, is the richest and most prestigious award for an unpublished manuscript in ...
Orange Prize for Fiction
The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...
Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...
for ''
The Secret River
''The Secret River'' is a 2005 historical novel by Kate Grenville about an early 19th-century Englishman transported to Australia for theft. The story explores what might have happened when Europeans colonised land already inhabited by Aborigi ...
''
* 2006 –
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, th ...
, Christina Stead Prize for fiction for ''The Secret River''
* 2006 –
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, th ...
, Community Relations Commission Award for ''The Secret River''
*2021 –
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, th ...
, Christina Stead Prize for fiction for ''A Room Made of Leaves''
Shortlisted
* 2006 – ''
The Secret River
''The Secret River'' is a 2005 historical novel by Kate Grenville about an early 19th-century Englishman transported to Australia for theft. The story explores what might have happened when Europeans colonised land already inhabited by Aborigi ...
'' –
Miles Franklin Award
The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–195 ...
and the
Man Booker Prize
The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...
Australian Book Industry Awards
The Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) are publishers' and literary awards held by the Australian Publishers Association annually in Sydney "to celebrate the achievements of authors and publishers in bringing Australian books to readers". ...
, Literary fiction book of the year for ''A Room Made of Leaves''
Bibliography
Novels
*
* ''Dreamhouse'' (1986),
* ''Joan Makes History: A Novel'' (1988),
* ''Dark Places'' (1994), (alternative title: ''Albion's Story'')
* '' The Idea of Perfection'' (1999)
*
* ''
The Lieutenant
''The Lieutenant'' is an American television series, the first created by Gene Roddenberry. It aired on NBC on Saturday evenings in the 1963–1964 television schedule. It was produced by Arena Productions, one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's most ...
'' (2008)
* ''
Sarah Thornhill
''Sarah Thornhill'' (2011) is a novel by Australian author Kate Grenville. It is the sequel to the author's 2005 novel ''The Secret River''.
It won the 2012 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Australian General Fiction Book of the Year ...
'', sequel to ''The Secret River'', (2011)
* ''A Room Made of Leaves'' (2020)
* ''The Writing Book: A Manual for Fiction Writers'' (1990),
* ''Making Stories: How Ten Australian Novels Were Written'' (1993), with Woolfe, Sue
* ''Writing from Start to Finish: a Six-Step Guide'' (2001)
* ''Searching for the Secret River'' (2006),
* ''One Life: My Mother's Story'' (2015),
* ''The Case Against Fragrance'' (2017), .
Notes
References
*Henderson, Gerard (2008) "A career upon life's pendulum: Ken Gee, 1915–2008" (Obituary), published in ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 2008-03-19, p. 22
*Whitlock, Gillian (ed.) (1989), ''Eight Voices of the Eighties: Stories, Journalism and Criticism by Australian Women Writers'', St Lucia, University of Queensland Press
Allen and 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 ...
World Book Club
''World Book Club'' is a radio programme on the BBC World Service. Each edition of the programme, which is broadcast on the first Saturday of the month with repeats into the following Monday, features a famous author discussing one of his or her ...
Ramona Koval
Ramona Koval (born 1954, Melbourne) is an Australian broadcaster, writer and journalist.
Her parents were Yiddish-speaking survivors of The Holocaust who arrived in Melbourne from Poland in 1950.
Koval is known for her extended and in-depth in ...
, ''
The Book Show
Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2.
History
1937: Predecessors an ...
'',
ABC Radio National
Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2.
History
1937: Predecessors an ...