Drusilla Modjeska (born 1946) is a contemporary Australian writer and editor.

Life

Modjeska was born in London and was raised in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. She spent several years in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

(where she was briefly a student at the

University of Papua New Guinea The University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) is a university located in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea. It was established by ordinance of the Australian administration in 1965. This followed the Currie Commission which had enquired ...

) before arriving in Australia in 1971. She studied for an undergraduate degree at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

before completing a PhD in history at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

which was published as ''Exiles at Home: Australian Women Writers 1925–1945'' (1981). Modjeska's writing often explores the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction. The best known of her work are ''Poppy'' (1990), a fictionalised biography of her mother, and ''Stravinsky's Lunch'' (2001), a feminist reappraisal of the lives and work of Australian painters Stella Bowen and

Grace Cossington Smith Grace Cossington Smith (20 April 189220 December 1984) was an Australian artist and pioneer of modernist painting in Australia and was instrumental in introducing Post-Impressionism to her home country. Examples of her work are held by every ...

. She has also edited several volumes of stories, poems and essays, including the work of

Lesbia Harford Lesbia Harford (9 April 1891 – 5 July 1927) was an Australian poet, novelist and political activist. Biography Lesbia Venner Keogh was the first child of Edmund Joseph Keogh and Beatrice Eleanor Moore, great-great-granddaughter of an Earl of ...

and a 'Focus on Papua New Guinea' issue for the literary magazine ''

Meanjin ''Meanjin'' (), formerly ''Meanjin Papers'' and ''Meanjin Quarterly'', is an Australian literary magazine. The name is derived from the Turrbal word for the spike of land where the city of Brisbane is located. It was founded in 1940 in Brisbane ...

''. In 2006 Modjeska was a senior research fellow at 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 si ...

, "investigating the interplay of race, gender and the arts in post-colonial Papua New Guinea". She has also taught at the

University of Technology, Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public university, 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 ...

Awards

* 1983 – Walter McRae Russell Award for ''Exiles at Home'' * 1991 –

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 ...

, Douglas Stewart Prize for non-fiction for ''Poppy'' * 1995 –

, Douglas Stewart Prize for non-fiction for ''The Orchard'' * 2000 –

, Douglas Stewart Prize for non-fiction for ''Stravinsky's Lunch'' * 2000 –

Australian Literature Society Gold Medal The Australian Literature Society Gold Medal (ALS Gold Medal) is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature for "an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year." From 1928 to 1974 it was awarded by the ...

for ''Stravinsky's Lunch''

Bibliography

Novels * ''Poppy''. (1990) * ''The Orchard''. (1994) Review
/small> * '' The Mountain'' (2012) Non-fiction * ''Women Writers: A study in Australian cultural history, 1920–1939''. (1979) * ''Exiles at Home: Australian women writers 1925–1945''. (1981) * ''Inner Cities: Australian women's memory of place''. (1989) * '' Stravinsky's Lunch''. (Picador, 1999) * ''Timepieces''. (Picador, 2002) Review
/small>
/small> * ''The Green in Glass: The work of Janet Laurence''. (Sydney: Pesaro, 2005) * ''Second Half First''. (2015) Edited * ''The Poems of Lesbia Harford''. (1985) * ''Sisters''. (

Angus & Robertson Angus & Robertson (A&R) is a major Australian bookseller, publisher and printer. As book publishers, A&R has contributed substantially to the promotion and development of Australian literature.Alison, Jennifer (2001). "Publishers and editors: A ...

, 1995) * ''The best Australian essays''. ( Black Inc. 2006)

Book reviews

* Review of Philip Roth, ''Indignation''.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Modjeska, Drusilla 1946 births Living people 20th-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian novelists University of Sydney faculty Australian art critics Australian women art critics British art critics British women art critics Australian feminist writers Australian non-fiction writers Australian women novelists English art critics English feminists English non-fiction writers English emigrants to Australia British emigrants to Papua New Guinea Australian National University alumni University of New South Wales alumni English women novelists 20th-century English women writers ALS Gold Medal winners 21st-century Australian women writers English women non-fiction writers Australian literary critics Australian women literary critics British literary critics British women literary critics 20th-century Australian women University of Technology Sydney faculty