Melissa Lucashenko is an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

writer of adult

literary fiction Literary fiction, mainstream fiction, non-genre fiction or serious fiction is a label that, in the book trade, refers to market novels that do not fit neatly into an established genre (see genre fiction); or, otherwise, refers to novels that are ch ...

and literary non-fiction, who has also written novels for teenagers. In 2013 at The

Walkley Awards The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

, she won the "Feature Writing Long (over 4000 words) Award" for her piece ''Sinking below sight: Down and out in Brisbane and Logan''. In 2019, she won the Miles Franklin award for '' Too Much Lip''.

Early life and education

Melissa Lucashenko was born in 1967 in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, Australia. Her heritage is Bundjalung and European. She is a graduate of

Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian ...

(1990), with an honours degree in

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

. In 1992 she was a founding member of Sisters Inside, an organisation which supports women and girls in prison.

Writing career

She has said that when she began writing seriously "there was still a glaring hole in Australian literature", with almost no prominent Aboriginal voices and with only the

University of Queensland Press Established in 1948, University of Queensland Press (UQP) is an Australian publishing house. Founded as a traditional university press, UQP has since branched into publishing books for general readers in the areas of fiction, non-fiction, poetr ...

and a few other small outlets publishing the work of Aboriginal writers. When asked whether she considers herself primarily a writer, or an Aboriginal writer, she writes that the question runs into semantic difficulties, because the word means different things to different people. Lucashenko's first work to be published was the novel '' Steam Pigs'' (1997), which won the Dobbie Literary Award for Australian women's fiction. It was also a short-list nominee for the NSW Premier's Award and the regional

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 ...

. In 1998 she released the novel ''Killing Darcy'', which won the

Aurora Prize of the Royal Blind Society An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in polar regions of Earth, high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display ...

, was a finalist for the 1998

Aurealis Award for best young-adult novel The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers". To qualify, a work must have been fi ...

and named on the 1998

James Tiptree Jr Memorial Award The Otherwise Award, formerly known as the James Tiptree Jr. Award, is an American annual literary prize for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore one's understanding of gender. It was initiated in February 1991 by science f ...

long list. In 1999 her third novel, ''Hard Yards'' was published and was a finalist in both the 1999 NSW Premier's Literary Awards and the 2001 Courier-Mail Book of the Year. In 2002 her fourth novel ''Too Flash'', written for young adults, was published. Lucashenko's fifth novel, ''Mullumbimby'', won the prestigious Deloitte Fiction Book Award in 2013 and the

Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing The Victorian Premier's Prize for Indigenous Writing is a prize category in the annual 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 cont ...

in 2014, as well as being nominated for several other awards. In 2015 it was longlisted for the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

. She is also an accomplished essayist, winning the 2013 "Feature Writing Long (over 4000 words)"

Walkley Award The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

for ''Sinking below sight: Down and out in Brisbane and Logan''. Speaking about this essay, Lucashenko said that she was partly informed by her studies in public policy: "...one thing I was trying to bring out in the piece was the odd mix of structural factors and just sheer luck, good and bad, that makes up people's lives. All of these women are poor because of the violence and because of intergenerational poverty, and those things can be attacked in policy and should be attacked in policy.". In September 2015, in a collaboration with

Poets House Poets House is a national literary center and poetry library based in New York City. It contains more than 70,000 volumes of poetry, and is free and open to the public. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, they temporarily suspended operations in Nov ...

in New York, a recording of six First Nations Australia Writers Network members reading their work was presented at a special event, which was recorded. The readers were Lucashenko, Jeanine Leane, Dub Leffler, Bruce Pascoe, Jared Thomas and

Ellen van Neerven Ellen van Neerven (born 1990) is an Aboriginal Australian author, educator and editor. They are queer and non-binary. Their first work of fiction, ''Heat and Light'' (2013), won several awards, and in 2019 Van Neerven won the Queensland Premier ...

. Lucashenko was awarded the Copyright Agency Author Fellowship in 2016 to focus on her new novel, which was published as ''Too Much Lip'' in 2018. In early 2019, the novel was shortlisted for the Stella Prize. Judges called it "...a fearless, searing and unvarnished portrait of generational trauma cut through with acerbic humour." The novel went on to win the 2019 Miles Franklin Award. In May 2019, Cenozoic Pictures optioned ''Too Much Lip'' for a screen adaptation, with Lucashenko as a co-writer and co-creator alongside Cenozoic's Veronica Gleeson.

Personal life and family

In March 2014

The Moth The Moth is a non-profit group based in New York City dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. Founded in 1997, the organization presents a wide range of theme-based storytelling events across the United States and abroad, often featuring ...

Radio Hour aired a recording of Lucashenko recounting the story of moving with her husband and daughter back to the Aboriginal lands in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

(where her great-grandmother grew up), and subsequent divorce from her husband and mental illness of her daughter.

Bibliography

Novels

*'' Steam Pigs'', University of Queensland Press (1997) *''Killing Darcy'', University of Queensland Press (1998) (YA novel) *''Hard Yards'', University of Queensland Press (1999) *''Too Flash'', IAD Press (2002) (YA novel) *''Uptown Girl'', University of Queensland Press (2002) * ''Mullumbimby'', University of Queensland Press (2013) *'' Too Much Lip'', University of Queensland Press (2018)

Essays

*"Whiteness" or "I'm not racist, but.." (undated) *"Who let the dogs out?" (undated) *"Not quite white in the head" in ''Griffith Review'' edition 2 (2004) *"Our bodies" in ''Making Perfect Bodies'', ''Griffith Review'', edition 4 (2005) *"Globalisation, Kimberley style" in ''Griffith Review'', edition 6 (2005) *"How green is my valley?" in ''Griffith Review'', edition 12 (2007) *"On the same page, right?" in ''Griffith Review'', edition 26 (2009) *"The silent majority" in ''Stories for Today'', edition 26 (2009) *"Sinking below sight" in ''Griffith Review'', edition 41 (2013) (Winner of a 2013 Walkley Award and 2014 George Munster Award for Independent Journalism) * "History's footnote, ''or,'' a Wolvi incident", pp. 63–69, in: ''Destroying the Joint: Why women have to change the world'', edited by

Jane Caro Catherine Jane Caro (born 24 June 1957) is a feminist social commentator, writer and lecturer based in Australia. Early life and education Caro was born in London in 1957 and emigrated to Australia with her parents as a five-year-old in 1963 ...

, (UQP, 2013) *

List of all essays in Griffith Review

Nominations and awards

Aurealis Award for best young adult novel The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers". To qualify, a work must have been fir ...

*1998: Nomination: ''Killing Darcy''

Aurora Prize of the Royal Blind Society

*1998: Winner: ''Killing Darcy''

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". ...

*2019: Longlist: ''Too Much Lip''

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 ...

*1997: Nomination: ''Steam Pigs''

Courier-Mail Book of the Year

*2001: Nomination: ''Hard Yards''

Dobbie Literary Award

*1998: Winner: ''Steam Pigs''

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

*2015: Longlist: ''Mullumbimby'' *2020: Longlist: ''Too Much Lip''

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 ...

*1997: Shortlist ''Steam Pigs'' *1999: Shortlist: ''Hard Yards'' *2019: Shortlist: ''Too Much Lip''

Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing The Victorian Premier's Prize for Indigenous Writing is a prize category in the annual 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 cont ...

*2014: Winner: ''Mullumbimby'' *2019: Shortlist: ''Too Much Lip''

Walkley Award: Feature Writing Long (over 4000 words)

* 2013: Winner: "Sinking below sight" in ''Griffith Review'', edition 41

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucashenko, Melissa 1967 births Living people 20th-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian novelists Australian essayists Australian women novelists 20th-century Australian women writers 21st-century Australian women writers 20th-century essayists 21st-century essayists Indigenous Australian writers Miles Franklin Award winners Writers from Brisbane Bundjalung people Australian people of Ukrainian descent

Early life and education

Writing career

Personal life and family

Bibliography

Novels

Essays

List of all essays in Griffith Review

Nominations and awards

Aurora Prize of the Royal Blind Society

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". ...

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 ...

Courier-Mail Book of the Year

Dobbie Literary Award

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

James Tiptree Jr Award

Miles Franklin Award

Nita B Kibble Literary Award

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 ...

Queensland Literary Awards: Deloitte Fiction Book Award

Queensland Literary Awards: Queensland Premier's Award for a work of State Significance

Queensland Literary Awards: The University of Queensland Fiction Book Award

Stella Prize

Walkley Award: Feature Writing Long (over 4000 words)

References

Further reading

External links