Kate Grenville author page

Kate Grenville biography

Kate Grenville is an Australian novelist and non-fiction writer. She was born in 1950 in Sydney and earned a Bachelor of Arts with honours from the University of Sydney.

Her early career included work as an editor for Film Australia. In the late 1970s she lived in London and Paris, then in 1980 undertook an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Colorado. Upon returning to Australia in 1983, she joined the Subtitling Unit at SBS Television, editing subtitles for broadcasts, before moving into freelance writing, reviewing and teaching.

Her first book publication was a collection of short stories, Bearded Ladies: Stories (1984). Her debut novel, Lilian’s Story (1985), won The Australian/Vogel Literary Award. Other novels include Dreamhouse, Joan Makes History and Dark Places.

In 2001 she won the Orange Prize for Fiction with The Idea of Perfection. Her historical novel The Secret River (2005) investigates colonial Australia and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2006. She followed this with a non-fiction companion volume, Searching for the Secret River, tracing her research and writing journey.

Subsequent novels include The Lieutenant (2008), Sarah Thornhill (2011), A Room Made of Leaves (2020) and Restless Dolly Maunder (2023). Her non-fiction works include One Life: My Mother’s Story (2015) and The Case Against Fragrance (2017).

Among her honours, she was awarded the Order of Australia in 2018.