Melissa Ashley Explained

Occupation:Writer, novelist
Awards:Queensland Literary Award for Fiction (2017)
Birth Place:Christchurch, New Zealand
Language:English
Citizenship:Australia
Alma Mater:University of Queensland

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]

Biography

Ashley 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

She was the assistant director of Subverse: Queensland Poetry Festival during the period of 1999–2001. She has also co-ordinated The Arts Queensland Award for Unpublished Poetry.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, an English illustrator who drew specimens for her husband John Gould's various books on birds. 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 .[7]

Works

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Winners and finalists. 2017. Queensland Literary Awards. https://web.archive.org/web/20171009000109/http://www.qldliteraryawards.org.au/winners. 9 October 2017. live. 9 October 2017.
  2. Web site: The Nielsen BookData 2017 Booksellers' Choice Award. Australian Booksellers. 6 December 2017.
  3. Web site: Melissa Ashley . 2022-09-08 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . en.
  4. News: The Birdman's Wife by Melissa Ashley: Elizabeth Gould's forgotten talent. Baum. Caroline. 14 October 2016. Sydney Morning Herald. 9 October 2017.
  5. Web site: UQ graduate brings trailblazing woman out of shadows. 10 February 2017. UQ News. University Of Queensland. 9 October 2017.
  6. Web site: 2020-07-17. Davitt Awards 2020 shortlists announced. 2020-07-19. Books+Publishing. en-AU.
  7. Web site: 2022-09-08 . Queensland Literary Awards winners for 2022 . 2022-09-08 . Queensland Government . en.

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