Susannah Fullerton OAM, FRSN (born 1960) is a Canadian-born Australian author and literary historian. She has been president of the Jane Austen Society of Australia since 1996, which is the largest

literary society A literary society is a group of people interested in literature. In the modern sense, this refers to a society that wants to promote one genre of writing or a specific author. Modern literary societies typically promote research, publish newsle ...

in Australia. She is also patron of the Rudyard Kipling Society of Australia, and patroness of The International Georgette Heyer Society. Her subject matter includes

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ar ...

, the

Mitford family The Mitford family is an aristocratic English family, whose principal line had its seats at Mitford, Northumberland. Several heads of the family served as High Sheriff of Northumberland. A junior line, with seats at Newton Park, Northumberland ...

, Samuel Pepys,

Vita Sackville-West Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, CH (née Sackville-West; 9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962), usually known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and garden designer. Sackville-West was a successful novelist, poet and journalist, as wel ...

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

, the Romantic Poets, and

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 ...

Biography

Born in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, in 1960, Fullerton moved with her family to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

while still young. She was first introduced to Jane Austen when she was ten and her mother read '' Pride and Prejudice'' to her. Fullerton has become a popular literary lecturer in Australia. She has lectured at the Art Gallery of NSW, the State Library of New South Wales, at libraries, schools and clubs. She is a registered speaker for Australia Decorative and Fine Arts Societies (ADFAS). In the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours List she received an

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 ...

Medal of the Order (OAM) for Services to Literature. She has said Austen's writing remains popular because it "is still so relevant today". She was involved in getting the statue of Charles Dickens back into

Centennial Park, New South Wales Centennial Park is a suburb split between the local government area of the City of Sydney and the City of Randwick, located south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the eastern suburbs of Sydney in the state of New South ...

and, along with

Miriam Margolyes Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The ...

, spoke at the unveiling of that statue.

Writing

Fullerton's book, ''Jane Austen and Crime'' (2004), explores Austen's childhood fascination with

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

and the way that crime and punishment affected her life. ''Brief Encounters'' (2009) is a collection of writers' narratives of their travels through early colonized Australia, of which the ''Hectate's Australian Women's Book Review'' said was only lacking in women's voices. Fullerton's 2013 book, ''Celebrating Pride and Prejudice,'' describes the history and contemporary reception of Austen's book '' Pride and Prejudice.'' ''Celebrating Pride and Prejudice'' also describes spin-offs of the original book and the reasons why

Elizabeth Bennet Elizabeth Bennet is the protagonist in the 1813 novel '' Pride and Prejudice'' by Jane Austen. She is often referred to as Eliza or Lizzy by her friends and family. Elizabeth is the second child in a family of five daughters. Though the ci ...

and

Mr. Darcy Fitzwilliam Darcy Esquire, generally referred to as Mr. Darcy, is one of the two central characters in Jane Austen's 1813 novel '' Pride and Prejudice''. He is an archetype of the aloof romantic hero, and a romantic interest of Elizabeth Benn ...

are such beloved characters. '' Star Tribune'' praised the book for its use of illustrations which were "as much fun as the text." ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' called ''Celebrating Pride and Prejudice'' "an intelligent and generous companion to ''Pride and Prejudice'': its author and her era, characters, language, reception, adaptions, industry."

Selected publications

*''Jane Austen – Antipodean Views''. Wellington Lane, 2001 *''Jane Austen and Crime''. Jones Books, 2004 *''Brief Encounters: Literary Travelers in Australia, 1836–1939''. Pan Macmillan, 2009 *''A Dance with Jane Austen: How a Novelist and her Characters went to the Ball''. Frances Lincoln, 2012 *''Happily Ever After: Celebrating Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice''. Frances Lincoln, 2013. Published in the USA as ''Celebrating Pride and Prejudice: 200 Years of Jane Austen's Masterpiece''. Voyageur Press, 2013 *''Finding Katherine Mansfield''. audio CD, Crimson Cats, 2009 *''Poetry to Fill a Room''. audio CD, 2016 *''Jane & I: A Tale of Austen Addiction''. JASA, 2017

References

External links

*
Susannah Fullerton on all things Jane Austen
(2011 audio) on

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fullerton, Susannah Australian writers 1960 births Living people Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Canadian emigrants to Australia Writers from Edmonton Fellows of the Royal Society of New South Wales