Author Biographies

Adam-Smith, Patsy (1924–2001) was a Melbourne-born adventurer, servicewoman, newspaper correspondent and author who spent time living and working in Tasmania.

Alethea was the pseudonymous author of hundreds of ‘Women’s Interests’ columns for the Hobart Mercury in the 1930s.

Beach, Eric (1947– ) was born in New Zealand and has lived for much of his life in Tasmania; he is a writer of poetry, plays and short fiction.

Bird, Carmel (1940– ) is a Tasmanian-born writer of novels, short fiction and essays; she now lives in Victoria.

Bligh, Marjorie (1917–2013) was a Tasmanian expert on home-making, gardening and recycling, and the author of numerous books, including an autobiography.

Bjelke-Petersen, Marie (1874–1969) was born in Denmark and lived for much of her life in Tasmania, where she was a physical-education teacher and an author of popular romance novels.

Bridges, Roy (1885–1952) was a prolific Tasmanian novelist.

Brinsmead-Hungerford, Hesba (1922–2003) was born in New South Wales; during her career as an environmentalist and writer, she spent time in Tasmania.

Brown, Bob (1944– ) is a Tasmanian environmental activist and former Greens politician.

Brown, Karen is a Tasmanian poet.

Chung, Helene (1945– ) is a Tasmanian-born journalist and author.

Cook, James (1728–79) was a British naval captain, navigator and explorer.

Conrad, Peter (1948– ) is a Tasmanian-born writer and academic; he now lives in Oxford, England.

Croome, Rodney (1964– ) is a Tasmanian writer and political activist.

Daffey, Paul (1965– ) is a Melbourne-based sports writer with a keen interest in Australian Rules football.

Davey, Richard (1938–2013) was a playwright, actor, director and writer who spent much of his career in Tasmania.

Day, Sarah (1958– ) is a Tasmanian poet.

Dean, Geoff (1928–2011) was a Tasmanian writer who specialised in short stories.

Dick, Charlotte Isabel (1881–1959) was the Tasmanian-born author of several novels.

Eberhard, Adrienne (1964– ) is a Tasmanian poet.

Everett, Jim / puralia meenamatta (1942– ) is a Tasmanian Aboriginal elder, political activist, and writer of poetry, plays, short stories and non-fiction.

Flynn, Errol (1909–59) was a Tasmanian-born actor known for playing swashbuckling roles in Hollywood films.

Forshaw, Cliff (1953– ) is an English poet and painter; he visited Tasmania as part of a writer-in-residence program.

Hay, Pete (1947– ) is a Tasmanian poet, essayist and academic.

Hodgman, Helen (1945– ) is a novelist; she was born in the United Kingdom, spent her youth in Tasmania and now lives in New South Wales.

Holden, Steve (1962– ) is the Melbourne-based author of short fiction and a novel.

Kneale, Matthew (1960– ) is an English novelist.

Koch, Christopher (1932–2013) was a Tasmanian-born novelist, poet and essayist.

Lawrence, Anthony (1957– ) is an Australian poet who has spent time living in Tasmania.

Leakey, Caroline (1827–81) was an English writer whose fiction and poetry was inspired by the years she spent in Van Diemen’s Land (1848–53).

Lehman, Greg (1961– ) is a Tasmanian academic, essayist and poet.

Livett, Jennifer (1947– ) is an English-born, Sydney-based writer who lived in Tasmania from childhood through to retirement from academia.

McAuley, James (1917–76) was a Sydney-born poet, academic and critic who spent the final years of his career in Tasmania.

McQueen, James (1934–98) was a Tasmanian-born novelist and short-story writer.

Maxwell-Stewart, Hamish (1962– ) is a historian and writer; born in Nigeria and raised in England, he has lived and worked in Tasmania since the 1990s.

Maynard, Nathan (1980– ) is a Tasmanian dancer and playwright.

Ottaway, Esther (1976– ) is a Tasmanian poet.

Peardon, Annette (1949– ) is a Tasmanian Aboriginal elder and long-time activist; she now lives and works on Cape Barren Island, in Bass Strait.

Roberts, Barney (1920–2005) was a Tasmanian writer of poetry, short fiction and non-fiction.

Roberts, Mary (1841–1921) was the founder and owner of Hobart’s Beaumaris Zoo.

Robinson, George Augustus (1791–1866) was the English-born ‘protector of Aboriginals’ in Van Diemen’s Land who oversaw the removal of Indigenous peoples to Flinders Island.

Rose, Heather (1964– ) is a Tasmanian writer of fiction for adults and children.

Sant, Andrew (1950– ) is a Tasmanian poet.

Scott, Margaret (1934–2005) was a Tasmanian poet, novelist and television personality.

Thorne, Tim (1944– ) is a Tasmanian poet.

Trollope, Anthony (1815–82) was an English writer of fiction and non-fiction; he published his observations on Australia and New Zealand after visiting in 1871–72.

Wainewright, Thomas Griffiths (1794–1847) was an English artist, critic and author who was convicted of forgery and transported to Van Diemen’s Land in 1837; he is believed to have been a serial killer.

Walter, Ben (1980– ) is a Tasmanian poet and writer of short fiction.

West, Errol (1947–2001) was a Tasmanian poet and academic.

West, Ida (1919–2003) was a Tasmanian Aboriginal elder, activist and writer.

Wise, Joan (1912–85) was a Tasmanian writer of short fiction, poetry and children’s fiction.

Wood, Danielle (1972– ) is a Tasmanian writer of fiction, non-fiction and children’s fiction.

Woodberry, Joan (1921–2010) was an educationalist and writer, primarily of children’s books; she was born in New South Wales but spent much of her adult life in Tasmania.