Simone Lazaroo is an Australian author. Born in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, she migrated with her family to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

as a young child. Her background is

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...

n. She lives in

Fremantle, Western Australia Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

and teaches Creative Writing at

Murdoch University Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its n ...

. Lazaroo's first novel ''The World Waiting to be Made'' won the TAG Hungerford award and was published in 1994. She has won the

Western Australian Premier's Book Awards The Western Australian Premier's Book Awards is an annual book award provided by the Government of Western Australia, and managed by the State Library of Western Australia. History and format Annual literary awards were inaugurated by the Wes ...

for fiction for three of her published novels, and has been shortlisted for national and international awards. ''The World Waiting to be Made'' was inspired by Lazaroo's own experiences and is about a woman who is searching for belonging in Australia, Singapore, and

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...

. It has been translated into French and Mandarin. Lazaroo's narrative themes often address issues of racial identity and cultural heritage, belonging and dislocation. Her work has been widely studied by literary scholars, particularly those interested in

Asian Australian Asian Australians refers to Australians of Asian ancestry, whether full or partial, including naturalised Australians who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants. At the 2021 census, the number of ances ...

writing. She was an Erasmus Mundus scholar at the

University of Oviedo The University of Oviedo ( es, Universidad de Oviedo, Asturian: ''Universidá d'Uviéu'') is a public university in Asturias (Spain). It is the only university in the region. It has three campus and research centres, located in Oviedo, Gijón ...

(Spain) in 2014, and a David TK Wong Writing Fellow at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

(UK) in 2000. In 2000, her first novel ''World Waiting To Be Made'' was shortlisted for the

Kiriyama Prize The Kiriyama Prize was an international literary award awarded to books about the Pacific Rim and South Asia. Its goal was to encourage greater understanding among the peoples and nations of the region. Established in 1996, the prize was last awar ...

. Lazaroo has also been a regional judge for the

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 2004.

Bibliography

* ''World Waiting To Be Made'' (1994) * ''The Australian Fiance'' (2000) * ''The Travel Writer'' (2006) * ''Sustenance'' (2010) * ''Lost River: Four Albums'' (2014)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lazaroo, Simone 1961 births Living people 20th-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian novelists Australian women novelists Writers from Western Australia Singaporean emigrants to Australia 20th-century Australian women writers 21st-century Australian women writers