Kathryn Heyman is an Australian writer of novels and plays. She is the director of the Australian Writers Mentoring Program and Fiction Program Director of Faber Writing Academy.

Career

Born in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, she was brought up in

Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent ...

with her four siblings.Jodie Minus, "The Face: Kathryn Heyman", ''Weekend Australian'', 17–18 May 2003, Review, p. R3. As a young adult Heyman spent many years in the United Kingdom, where she studied under the Caribbean poet E.A. Markham, and where she was first published. Heyman is the author of six novels: ''The Breaking'' (1997), ''Keep Your Hands on the Wheel'' (1999), ''The Accomplice'' (2003) ''Captain Starlight's Apprentice'' (2006) ''Floodline'' (2013) and ''Storm and Grace'' (2017) She is also a playwright for theatre and radio and has held a number of creative writing fellowships in the UK and Australia. Her short stories have appeared in a number of collections and also on radio. Heyman's first novel, ''The Breaking'', was longlisted 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 ...

, and shortlisted for the Scottish Writer of the Year Award. Her third, ''The Accomplice'', won an

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

Writer's Award and was shortlisted for 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 ...

. ''The Accomplice'' is a fictional account of the wreck of the Dutch flagship the ''Batavia'' off the Australian coast in the 17th century. As a meditation on complicity with

evil Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...

it has been compared with the work of

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in t ...

and

William Golding Sir William Gerald Golding (19 September 1911 – 19 June 1993) was a British novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel ''Lord of the Flies'' (1954), he published another twelve volumes of fiction in his lifetime. In 1980 ...

. Her fourth novel, ''Captain Starlight's Apprentice'', features a woman

bushranger Bushrangers were originally escaped convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who used the bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities. By the 1820s, the term had evolved to refer to those who took up "robbery under ...

, the birth (and near death) of the

Australian film industry The cinema of Australia had its beginnings with the 1906 production of '' The Story of the Kelly Gang'', arguably the world's first feature film. Since then, Australian crews have produced many films, a number of which have received internat ...

, and a British migrant to Australia who undergoes

electroconvulsive therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatry, psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroco ...

. In 2007 the novel was shortlisted for the

Nita Kibble Literary Award The Kibble Literary Awards comprise two awards—the Nita B Kibble Literary Award, which recognises the work of an established Australian female writer, and the Dobbie Literary Award, which is for a first published work by a female writer. The Awar ...

. ''Floodline'', published 2013, is set during the aftermath of a great flood, and has been compared with the writing of

Cormac McCarthy Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr., July 20, 1933) is an American writer who has written twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays and three short stories, spanning the Western and post-apocalyptic genres. He is known for his gr ...

. Heyman's writing has also been compared with that of

Angela Carter Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picar ...

David Malouf David George Joseph Malouf AO (; born 20 March 1934) is an Australian poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright and librettist. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2008, Malouf has lectured at both the University of Quee ...

, Peter Carey and

Kate Grenville Catherine Elizabeth Grenville (born 1950) is an Australian author. She has published fifteen books, including fiction, non-fiction, biography, and books about the writing process. In 2001, she won the Orange Prize for '' The Idea of Perfection ...

. Heyman's sixth novel ''Storm & Grace'', a psychological thriller about freediving, deals with violence against women and was published by Allen & Unwin in February 2017. Heyman's work has appeared on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

, and a five-part dramatic adaptation of ''Captain Starlight's Apprentice'' was broadcast on ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by A ...

'' in April 2007. In 2013 she delivered the NSW Premier's Literary Awards keynote address.

Books

*''The Breaking''. Phoenix House (1997); Allen & Unwin (2012) *''Keep Your Hands on the Wheel''. Phoenix House (1999); Allen & Unwin (2012) *''The Accomplice''. Hodder Headline (2003); Allen & Unwin (2012) *''Captain Starlight's Apprentice''. Hodder Headline (2006); Allen & Unwin (2012) *''Floodline''. Allen & Unwin (2013) *''Storm & Grace''. Allen & Unwin (2017) *''Fury''. Allen & Unwin (2021)

Plays

*''The Princess Who Couldn't Fly (and a Word or Two About the Crippled King)'' (1990) *''Unreal'' (1991) *''Sex, Lies and Model Aeroplanes'' (1991) with David Lennie and Paul Tolton *''Exodus'' (1993) with David Purveur *''Dancing on the Word'' (1993) *''That's The Way to Do It'' (1994) with

Jo Enright Jo Enright is an English stand-up comedian and actress who has appeared in a number of television and radio comedy programmes. She is best known for her roles in ''The Job Lot'', '' Life's Too Short'' and ''Trollied''. Career In 1995, she mad ...

Works for BBC Radio

*''Far Country'' (2002), starring

Kerry Fox Kerry Lauren Fox (born 30 July 1966) is a New Zealand actress. She came to prominence playing author Janet Frame in the movie ''An Angel at My Table'' directed by Jane Campion, which gained her a Best Actress Award from the New Zealand Film and ...

*''Keep Your Hands on the Wheel'' (2003), starring

*''Moonlight's Boy'' (2005) *''Closing Time'' (2005), (BBC short) *''Captain Starlight's Apprentice'' (2007)

Awards

Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature The Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature comprise a group of biennially-granted literary awards established in 1986 by the Government of South Australia, announced during Adelaide Writers' Week, as part of the Adelaide Festival. The awards i ...

Nonfiction Award shortlist, 2022 (''Fury'') *Australia Council Established Writers New Work Grant 2006 – 2008 *Kibble Prize shortlist, (''Captain Starlight's Apprentice'') *Arts Council of England Writer's Award, (''The Accomplice'') *Western Australian Premier's Book Awards shortlist, (''The Accomplice'') *Wingate Scholarship, (''The Accomplice'') *Southern Arts Writers Award (''Keep Your Hands on the Wheel'') *Orange Prize longlist, (''The Breaking'') *Stakis Prize for Scottish Writer of the Year shortlist, (''The Breaking'') *Hallam Poetry Prize, 1996

References

External links

*
Australian Writers Mentoring ProgramAuthor page
at Allen & Unwin, Australian publisher.
Kathryn Heyman's Occasional BlogShort summary of ''Floodline''
by Adelaide Writers' Week director Laura Kroetsch {{DEFAULTSORT:Heyman, Kathryn 1965 births Living people 20th-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian novelists Writers from New South Wales Australian women novelists 20th-century Australian women writers 21st-century Australian women writers