Debra Adelaide (born 1958) is an Australian novelist, writer and academic. She teaches 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 ...

Biography

Adelaide was born in Sydney and grew up in the

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a local government area in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire comprises an area of and as at the had an estimated population of . Sutherland Shire is colloquially ...

. A contemporary of writers

Kathy Lette Kathryn Marie Lette (born 11 November 1958) is an Australian-British author whose works have been best-sellers. Early life Lette was born on 11 November 1958 in Sydney's southern suburbs. She appeared in ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' of 20 Au ...

and

Gabrielle Carey Gabrielle Carey (born 10 January 1959) is an Australian writer noted for the teen novel, '' Puberty Blues'', which she co-wrote with Kathy Lette. This novel was the first teenage novel published in Australia that was written by teenagers. Carey ...

, she attended Gymea High School and then via a teacher's scholarship, she completed a BA (Honours) and MA (Honours) in English literature at the University of Sydney. She then completed a PhD in Australian women’s literature in 1991, and in the process completed her first book, a bibliography of Australian women's literature. While studying, Debra Adelaide worked as a university tutor and research assistant, and afterwards became a freelance editor, author and book reviewer. She commenced writing fiction in the early 1990s and her first novel, ''The Hotel Albatross'', was published in 1995. She was married until 2003 and has three children, Joe (b 1989), Ellen (b 1992) and Callan (b 1997). She is currently an associate professor in creative practice at the University of Technology, Sydney, where she teaches in the undergraduate communication program and teaches and supervises postgraduate creative writing.

Works

Adelaide has published 12 books, including novels, anthologies and reference books on Australian literature. Her novels are ''The Household Guide to Dying'' (Picador:2008), ''The Hotel Albatross'' (Vintage: 1995) and ''Serpent Dust'' (Vintage: 1998). She has published two collections of short fiction, entitled ''Zebra: and other stories'' (Picador: 2019) and ''Letter to George Clooney'' (Picador: 2013) and also contributed to and edited the anthology'' Acts of Dogs ''(Vintage: 2003) in which leading Australian and NZ authors have written stories and memoirs on the theme of dogs, and the ''Motherlove'' series of anthologies (Random House: 1996; 1997; 1998). ''Zebra'' won the 2019 University of Southern Queensland Steele Rudd Award for a Short Story Collection.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''The Women's Pages'' (2015) * ''The Household Guide to Dying'' (2008) * ''The Hotel Albatross'' (1995) * ''Serpent Dust'' (1998)

Short Stories

* ''Zebra'' (2019) * ''Letter to George Clooney'' (2013)

Non-fiction

*''The Innocent Reader: Reflections on Reading and Writing'' (2019) *''Australian Women Writers: A Bibliographic Guide'' (Pandora, 1988)

As editor

*''The Simple Act of Reading'' (2015) *''A Bright and Fiery Troop: Australian Women Writers of the Nineteenth Century'' (2008) *''A Window in the Dark,'' autobiography of

Dymphna Cusack Ellen Dymphna Cusack AM (21 September 1902 – 19 October 1981) was an Australian writer and playwright. Personal life Born in Wyalong, New South Wales, Cusack was educated at Saint Ursula's College, Armidale, New South Wales and graduated f ...

(2008) *''Acts Of Dog: Writers on the Canine Divine'' (2003) *''Cutting the Cord: Stories of Children, Love and Loss'' (2002) *''Motherlove 2: More Stories About Births, Babies and Beyond'' (1998) *''Motherlove: Stories about Births, Babies and Beyond'' (1996)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adelaide, Debra 1958 births Living people 20th-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian novelists Australian freelance journalists Australian women novelists People from the Sutherland Shire Writers from New South Wales 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian women writers Australian Book Review people