Thea Astley

Brief Biography

Thea Astley was born in Brisbane in 1925, educated at the University of Queensland before teaching in schools in both Queensland and New South Wales. She was on the staff at Macquarie University in Sydney from 1968 to 1980. She was awarded the PAtrick White Award in 1989 for her services to Australian literature.

Astley won the Miles Franklin Award four times: The Well Dressed Explorer in 1962 (sharing the award with George Turner), The Slow Natives in 1965, The Acolyte in 1972, and for Drylands in 2000. In addition, Astley's novel, The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow, was nominated for the 1997 Miles Franklin Award.

Her 1999 novel Drylands was nominated for the 2001 International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary award.

Thea Astley is featured on the Albert Street (Brisbane) literary trail, which commemorates authors who have used Brisbane as a locale.

Thea Astley died in Byron Bay, New South Wales, on August 17, 2004.

Bibliography

Novels
Girl with a Monkey 1958
A Descant for Gossips 1960
The Well Dressed Explorer 1962
The Slow Natives 1965
A Boat Load of Home Folk 1968
The Acolyte 1972
A Kindness Cup 1974
An Item from the Late News 1982
Beachmasters 1985
Reaching Tin River 1990
Vanishing Points 1992
Coda 1994
The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow 1996
Drylands 1999

Short Story Collections
Hunting the Wild Pineapple 1979
It's Raining in Mango 1987
Collected Stories 1997

This page and its contents are copyright © 1995-2005 by Perry Middlemiss, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Last modified: November 2, 2005.