Nadia Wheatley is an Australian writer whose work includes picture books, novels, biography and history. Perhaps best known for her classic picture book ''My Place'' (illustrated by Donna Rawlins), the author's biography of

Charmian Clift Charmian Clift (30 August 19238 July 1969) was an Australian writer and essayist. She was the second wife and literary collaborator of George Johnston. Biography Clift was born in Kiama, New South Wales in 1923. She married George Johnston ...

was described by critic Peter Craven as 'one of the greatest Australian biographies'. Another book by Wheatley is ''A Banner Bold'', an historical novel. While some of the author's books for children and young adults have been honoured in the annual awards of the Children's Book Council of Australia, in 2014 Nadia was nominated by

IBBY Australia The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is a non-profit organisation to bring books and children together. In 1966, IBBY Australia was established and Ena Noël OAM became its first president and remained in this role for over 20 ...

for the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing — the highest international recognition given to a living author whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children's literature. In 2014 Wheatley was admitted by 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 ...

to the degree of

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...

''(honoris causa)'', in recognition of 'her exceptional creative achievements in the field of children's and adult literature, her work as an historian and her contribution to our understanding of Indigenous issues, cultural diversity, equity and social justice and the environment through story'.

Life

Nadia Wheatley was born in Sydney. She was educated at

Meriden School , motto_translation = Always faithful , established = , type = Independent single-sex early learning, primary, and secondary day school , gender = Girls , denomination = Anglicanism , educational_authority = New South Wales De ...

, the University of Sydney (BA Hons 1970) and Macquarie University (MA Hons 1976). In 1975, Wheatley went to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

to live, with her then-partner, poet Martin Johnston, son of Australian writers George Johnston and Charmian Clift.Tranter (1993) It was here that she began to write seriously.AusLit (2007) The couple lived in the town of

Chania Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion. The muni ...

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

, and in a coastal village in the Peloponnese, and had a routine of writing six days a week. On her return to Australia in 1978 Wheatley lived in the Sydney suburb of Newtown, which provided the setting for her first three books — ''Five Times Dizzy'', ''Dancing in the Anzac Deli'' and ''The House that was Eureka''. After spending some years in

Apollo Bay Apollo Bay is a coastal town in southwestern Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the eastern side of Cape Otway, along the edge of the Barham River and on the Great Ocean Road, in the Colac Otway Shire. The town had a population of 1,790 at ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and the Blue Mountains, the author returned to Sydney in 1995, where she lives in the Cooks River Valley — the ‘place’ of her classic picture book, ''My Place''.

Career

Wheatley's first book, ''

Five Times Dizzy ''Five Times Dizzy'' is a children's novel by Australian author Nadia Wheatley It was first published in 1982. In 1986 it became an Australian children's television series. Plot summary ''Five Times Dizzy'' is about the comedy and drama of a G ...

'' (1983) was acclaimed as Australia's first

multicultural The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...

book for children. Awarded the

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 ...

Special Children's Book Award, it became a

television mini-series A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

that went to air on the new multicultural channel SBS in 1986. The picture book, ''My Place'', has also been produced as

26-part television adaptation, with Nadia Wheatley acting as history consultant and story consultant. Released on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in 2009 and 2011, ''My Place'' was acknowledged as Most Outstanding Children's Series in the 2012 Logie Awards. Wheatley also used her background as a historian in the writing of the historical novel, ''The House that was Eureka'' (1986), set in the turbulent anti-eviction battles of the Great Depression. Described by critic

Maurice Saxby Henry Maurice Saxby (26 December 1924 – 30 November 2014) was an Australian educator, author, critic, reviewer and authority on Australian children's literature. Early life Henry Maurice Saxby was born on 26 December 1924 in Botany, New Sou ...

as ‘a novel of enduring significance’, this was republished in 2014 as a Text Classic. While Wheatley was producing these books for children and young adults, she was also researching and writing a biography of the acclaimed Australian author, Charmian Clift. Published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

, ''The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift'' won

The Age Book of the Year ''The Age'' Book of the Year Awards were annual literary awards presented by Melbourne's ''The Age'' newspaper. The awards were first presented in 1974. After 1998, they were presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival. Initially, two awa ...

— Non Fiction (2001) and the Australian History Prize in the

New South Wales Premier's History Awards The NSW Premier's History Awards honour distinguished achievement in the interpretation of history, through both the written word and non-print media by Australian citizens and permanent residents of Australia. History The State Government of New ...

(2002). Over the last decade, Nadia Wheatley has collaborated with artist Ken Searle to produce a set of non-fiction books that exemplify the

Papunya Papunya ( Pintupi-Luritja: ''Warumpi'') is a small Indigenous Australian community roughly northwest of Alice Springs (Mparntwe) in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is known as an important centre for Contemporary Indigenous Australian art ...

Model of Education — an Indigenous curriculum model that puts the Country at the centre of learning. This journey began during the period 1998 to 2001, when Wheatley and Searle worked as consultants at the school at Papunya (an Aboriginal community in the Western Desert, Northern Territory). While assisting the Anangu staff and students to develop resources for their curriculum, the two consultants helped produce the multi-award-winning ''Papunya School Book of Country and History'' (Allen & Unwin, 2002). Wheatley and Searle subsequently took part in the Australian Society of Authors funded mentorship program for Indigenous authors, supporting Papunya artist and teacher, Mary Malbunka, to write and illustrate her picture book memoir, ''When I was Little, Like You'' (2003, Allen & Unwin).

"Going Bush" project

Nadia's book ''Going Bush'' grew out of a

Harmony Day Harmony Day is celebrated annually on 21 March in Australia. It is a government-declared observance day that began in 1999, coinciding with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Overview Harmony Da ...

project developed in 2003 by eight inner-Sydney city schools. The initial plan was to break down barriers between the communities but it developed into a larger project which included learning about the environment, Indigenous culture, and living in multicultural communities, and involved sixteen Muslim, Catholic and government schools. In 2005 Nadia Wheatley and Ken Searle were invited by the committee to work with the children on "the theme of freedom".''Students "going bush" in the city'' (2007) Wheatley and Searle used an educational model they had developed with others in the 1990s at

School in Central Australia which "puts country at the core of the curriculum". The result was the book, ''Going Bush'', which captures what the children learnt through exploring a section of urban bushland along Wolli Creek.Allen and Unwin Media Release for "Going Bush" (2007)

Awards and nominations

''Five Times Dizzy''

Special Children's Book Award (1983) *Highly Commended – CBCA Children's Book of the Year: Older Readers (1983) *Honorary Diploma –

International Board on Books for Young People The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is an international non-profit organization committed to bringing books and children together. The headquarters of the IBBY are located in Basel, Switzerland. IBBY history In 1952, Jella Lepm ...

(1983) *

AWGIE Awards The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967. The awards are judged by over 50 writers, most of whom are previou ...

for Best Adaptation, Children's Television Drama (for the television mini-series) (1987)

''Dancing in the Anzac Deli''

*Commended – CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers (1984) *Honorary Diploma –

(1985)

''The House that Was Eureka''

*Shortlisted –

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 i ...

(1984) *

Children's Book Award (1985) *Commended – CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers (1985)

''My Place''

*Won – CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Younger Readers *Won – CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Eve Pownall Award for Information Books *Won – Kids' Own Australian Literature Award (1988) *Won – White Raven Award Award (1988) *Won – Young Australian Best Book Awards (1990) *Honorary Diploma –

(1990) *Listed US Library Best Books for Young People (1988) won the devil award (2000)

''Lucy in the Leap Year''

*Shortlisted – CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Younger Readers (1994) *Shortlisted – New South Wales Ministry for the Arts Awards (1994) *Shortlisted – Multicultural Award (1994)

''The Night Tolkien Died''

*Honour Book – CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers (1995)

''Highway''

*Honour Book – CBCA (1999)

''Papunya School Book of Country and History''

*Shortlisted – CBCA (2002)

''The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift''

*Won – NSW History Awards: The Australian History Prize (2002)

''Going Bush''

*Shortlisted – Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing (2007)

''Australians All''

*Winner, NSW Premier's History Award, Young People's History Award, 2014

Selected bibliography

Children's

*''

'' (1982, Oxford University Press) *''Dancing in the Anzac Deli'' (1984, Oxford University Press) *''The House that Was Eureka'' (1985, Viking Kestrel) *''1 is for One'' (illus. Helen Leitch, 1986, Oxford University Press) *''My Place'' (illus. Donna Rawlins, 1987, Collins Dove) *''Lucy in the Leap Year'' (1993, Omnibus) *''The Night Tolkien Died'' (1994, Random House) *''The Greatest Treasure of Charlemagne the King'' (illus. Deborah Klein, 1997) *''Highway'' (illus. Andrew McLean, 1998) *''Luke's Way of Looking'' (illus. Matt Ottley, 1999) *''Vigil'' (2000, Viking) *''Papunya School Book of Country and History'' (2002, illus, Ken Searle; in collaboration with Anangu staff and students, Papunya School) *''A Banner Bold: The Diary of Rosa Aarons, Ballarat goldfield, 1854'' (2000, Scholastic) *''Listening to Mondrian'' (2006, Allen and Unwin) *''Going Bush'' (illus. Ken Searle, 2007, Allen and Unwin) *''Playground'' (illus. Ken Searle, 2011, Allen and Unwin) *''Australians All'' (illus. Ken Searle, 2013, Allen and Unwin) *''Flight'' (illus. Armin Greder, 2015, Windy Hollow Books)

Adult

*''The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift'' (2001, HarperCollinsPublishers) *''Her Mother's Daughter'' (2018, Text Publishing)

Notes

References

*Adelaide, Debra (1988) ''Australian Women Writers: A Bibliographic Guide'', London, Pandora
Allen and Unwin Media Release for "Going Bush" (2007)Dimond, Jill (2003) ''The Australian Society of Authors’ mentorship program for Indigenous writers is an outstanding success''
Accessed: 2007-07-25
Papers of Nadia Wheatley, Ms 9000 (National Library of Australia)''Students "going bush" in the city''
Accessed: 2007-07-18
Tranter, John (1993) ''Martin Johnston'' (originally published as "introduction" to his book ''Martin Johnston — Selected Poems and Prose'')AusLit (2007) ''Wheatley, Nadia''
Accessed: 2007-07-18 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wheatley, Nadia 1949 births Australian women short story writers Australian children's writers Children's non-fiction writers 20th-century Australian women writers Writers from Sydney Living people Australian women children's writers Australian women novelists University of Sydney alumni 20th-century Australian short story writers