Melissa Ashley (born 1973) is an Australian novelist. At the 2017 Queensland Literary Awards, her novel The Birdman's Wife won the Fiction Book Award.[1] It also received the Australian Booksellers Association Nielsen BookData 2017 Booksellers Choice Award.[2]
Melissa Ashley | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1973 (age 50–51) Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Occupation | Writer, novelist |
| Language | English |
| Citizenship | Australia |
| Alma mater | University of Queensland |
| Notable awards | Queensland Literary Award for Fiction (2017) |
Biography
editAshley was born 1973 in Christchurch, New Zealand[3] and arrived in Australia aged eight. Ashley has two children and is a self-confessed committed "twitcher".[4]
Career
editShe was the assistant director of Subverse: Queensland Poetry Festival from 1999–2001. She also co-ordinated The Arts Queensland Award for Unpublished Poetry.
Her short stories, essays, poems, and reviews have appeared in The Age, The Lifted Brow, Australian Book Review, Overland, and Catamaran Literary Review.
Ashley's interest in birds motivated her 2016 historical novel, The Birdman's Wife, about Elizabeth Gould, the English illustrator who drew specimens collected by her husband, John Gould, for his books on birds.[4] Ashley wrote the novel as part of her PhD, whilst studying at the University of Queensland.[5]
The Bee and the Orange Tree was shortlisted for the 2020 Davitt Award for best debut crime book.[6]
At the 2022 Queensland Literary Awards, Ashley was awarded a Queensland Writers Fellowship valued at A$15,000.[7]
Works
edit- ——; Johnson, Ruth; Cvetkovic, Lidija (1996). Desire In Difference. Hetaira Press. ISBN 9780646290225.
- —— (2003). The Hospital for Dolls. Post Pressed. ISBN 9781876682507.
- —— (2009). The Maiden Without Hands: From Folktale and Fairy Tale to Contemporary Novel. St. Lucia. (M.Phil Thesis)
- —— (2016). The Birdman's Wife. South Melbourne: Affirm Press. ISBN 9781925344998.
- —— (2019). The Bee and the Orange Tree. South Melbourne: Affirm Press. ISBN 9781925712018.
- —— (2023). The Naturalist of Amsterdam (hardcover 1st ed.). South Melbourne: Affirm Press. ISBN 9781922863980.
References
edit- ^ "Winners and finalists". Queensland Literary Awards. 2017. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
- ^ "The Nielsen BookData 2017 Booksellers' Choice Award". Australian Booksellers. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
- ^ "Melissa Ashley". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ a b Baum, Caroline (14 October 2016). "The Birdman's Wife by Melissa Ashley: Elizabeth Gould's forgotten talent". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
- ^ "UQ graduate brings trailblazing woman out of shadows". UQ News. University Of Queensland. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
- ^ "Davitt Awards 2020 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
- ^ "Queensland Literary Awards winners for 2022". Queensland Government. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.