Rosie Scott (22 March 1948 – 4 May 2017) was a novelist, poet, playwright, short-story writer, non-fiction writer, editor and lecturer, with dual Australian and New Zealand citizenship.

Early life and career

Rosie Scott was born in Wellington, New Zealand. Her father, Dick Scott, is a notable historian and journalist. She completed a BA and Graduate Diploma of Drama at

Auckland University The University of Auckland is a public university, public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest, most comprehensive and highest-ranked university in New Zealand and consistently places among the top 100 universit ...

, and an MA(Hons) in English at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

. Scott worked in a variety of careers, including as a social worker and in publishing, before becoming a full-time writer.

Work

Scott's first published work was a 1984 volume of poetry ''Flesh and Blood'', followed by the play ''Say Thank You to the Lady'', for which she won the prestigious Bruce Mason Playwriting Award in 1986. In 1988, at the age of 40, Scott published her first novel, ''Glory Days''. It was shortlisted for the

New Zealand Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder W ...

, and was published in New Zealand, Australia, Germany, UK and the US. Scott then published five more novels, a short story collection and a collection of essays. Scott was active in the Australian writing community in her work for

Sydney PEN Sydney PEN, also referred as International PEN Sydney Centre Inc., is based in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1931, it is one of the three Australian PEN Centres, and is an affiliate of PEN International PEN International (known as Internat ...

and the

Australian Society of Authors The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) was formed in 1963 as the organisation to promote and protect the rights of Australia's authors and illustrators. The Fellowship of Australian Writers played a key role it its establishment. The organisat ...

(ASA). Scott served on the board and the executive of the ASA for ten years, during which time she was elected Chair. In 2005, she was appointed to a permanent honorary position on the ASA Council. She served as the Vice President of Sydney PEN, and was awarded the inaugural Sydney PEN Award in 2006 and was also awarded a Lifetime Membership of PEN. Scott campaigned extensively on human rights issues in Australia, saying, "My writing is fuelled by me as a totality, but also by my political feelings." With

Tom Keneally Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his non-fiction novel ''Schindler's Ark'', the story of Oskar Schindler's rescue of Jews during the Holocaust, wh ...

, she co-edited an anthology of refugee writing, ''Another Country'', for which she was nominated for the 2004

Human Rights Medal The Human Rights Awards are a series of awards for achievements in the field of human rights in Australia, bestowed by the Australian Human Rights Commission at the Human Rights Day Ceremony in December in each year. History The Human Rights Awa ...

. She was a co-founder of Women for Wik, a group dedicated to reconciliation with Aboriginal people in Australia. In 2013 Scott co-edited another anthology on asylum seekers with Tom Keneally called A Country Too Far with some of Australia's greatest writers including Anna Funder, Geraldine Brooks, Rodney Hall, Christos Tsiolkas, Les Murray, Alex Miller and Kim Scott. It was described as a 'stunning anthology and searing moral work… timely, important and wise.'. In 2014 she started the group "We're Better than This", a broad-based movement against refugee children in detention. Scott completed a Diploma in Counselling and a Doctorate at the

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network u ...

. She taught creative writing at 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 ...

, as well as working as a mentor for young and novice writers. In 2016 Scott 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 ...

for significant service to literature as an author, and to human rights and inter-cultural understanding. Later that year she was the recipient of the NSW Premier's Special Award for her "significant service to literature as an author".

Critical response

Scott has been called a "significant voice in contemporary women's fiction" in Australia.

Marilyn Stasio Marilyn Stasio is a New York City author, writer and literary critic. She has been the "Crime Columnist" for ''The New York Times Book Review'' since about 1988,New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

, described Scott's writing as "an introspective voice that's rich in poetry and raw with anguish". Writing in The Australian in 1990, John Macgregor described ''Nights With Grace'' as "one of the finest Antipodean novels of recent times". ''Faith Singer'' was chosen for 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 ...

's 50 Essential Reads by Contemporary Writers in 2004. Her work has been shortlisted for 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, th ...

, the Banjo Patterson Award, the New Zealand Book Awards and the Biennial Adelaide Festival Award.

Personal life

Scott was married to the director and writer, Danny Vendramini, and had two daughters. She died on 4 May 2017, from a brain tumour.

Bibliography

Novels

*''Glory Days'' (1988) *''Nights with Grace'' (1990) *''Feral City'' (1992) *''Lives on Fire'' (1993) *''Movie Dreams'' (1995) *''Faith Singer'' (2003)

Short story collections

*''Queen of Love'' (1989)

Poetry

*''Flesh and Blood'' (1984)

Plays

*''Say Thank You to the Lady'' (1985)

Non-fiction

*''The Red Heart'' (1999)

Editor

*''Another Country'' (2014) (with

Thomas Keneally Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his non-fiction novel ''Schindler's Ark'', the story of Oskar Schindler's rescue of Jews during the Holocaust, wh ...

) *''A Country Too Far (2004) (with

) * The Intervention (2015) with

Anita Heiss Anita Marianne Heiss (born 1968) is an Aboriginal Australian author, poet, cultural activist and social commentator. She is an advocate for Indigenous Australian literature and literacy, through her writing for adults and children and her memb ...

References

External links

Official pageRosie Scott radio interview with Phillip AdamsRosie Scott in the New Zealand Literature File
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Rosie 1948 births 2017 deaths Australian women novelists Australian women poets New Zealand women novelists New Zealand women poets Victoria University of Wellington alumni 20th-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian novelists 20th-century New Zealand novelists 21st-century New Zealand novelists 20th-century Australian women writers 21st-century Australian women writers Academic staff of the University of Technology Sydney Western Sydney University alumni University of Auckland alumni Members of the Order of Australia