Gabrielle Carey Gabrielle Carey i(A24962 works by)
Also writes as: Salami Sisters
Born: Established: 10 Jan 1959 Sydney, New South Wales, ; Died: Ceased: 3 May 2023 Sydney, New South Wales,
Gender: Female
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BiographyHistory

Gabrielle Carey left school at the age of fifteen and first became known as a writer at the age of twenty when she and her friend Kathy Lette published the controversial Puberty Blues, based on their own lives and those of other teenagers in the Sydney surfie set.

She was raised in an atheist humanist household, but while in Ireland in the mid-eighties was converted to the Catholic faith, becoming convinced of the importance of spirituality in everyday life.

She lived for several years in a small village in Mexico, returning to Australia in the early 1990s. She lived in Sydney and worked as a freelance writer and lecturer in writing.

In 2010, Gabrielle Carey was teaching writing at Sydney's University of Technology while working on a book about Randolph Stow and the Swan River Colony families, which was published in 2013. In 2020, she was highly commended for the Hazel Rowley Fellowship for a project on Elizabeth Von Arnim.

Most Referenced Works

Notes

  • Interview with Caroline Jones (tape held NSL)

Personal Awards

2023 shortlisted Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship for a biography of her father Alex Carey, an academic and political activist
2020 shortlisted Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship for a biography of Australian writer Elizabeth von Arnim
2019 shortlisted Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship

for a biography of Elizabeth von Arnim
VIEW ALL AWARDS

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Only Happiness Here : In Search of Elizabeth von Arnim St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2020 19629578 2020 single work biography

'Elizabeth von Arnim is one of the early 20th century’s most famous – and forgotten –authors. Born in Sydney in the mid 1800s, she went on to write many internationally bestselling novels, marry a Prussian Count and then an English Lord, nurture close friendships with H.G. Wells and E.M. Forster and raise five children.

'Her novels were ahead of their time in their representation of women and their pursuit of happiness. Intrigued by von Arnim’s extraordinary life and vibrant career, Gabrielle Carey sets off on a literary and philosophical journey to know more about this talented author.

'From the Prime Minister’s Literary Award winner of Moving Among Strangers, Only Happiness Here is part biography, part memoir and part reflection on human nature’s obsession with finding joy.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.
2021 winner 'The Nib': CAL Waverley Library Award for Literature Mark and Evette Moran Nib Award for Literature — The Alex Buzo Shortlist Prize
2021 shortlisted Mark and Evette Moran Nib Award for Literature
y separately published work icon Moving Among Strangers : Randolph Stow and My Family St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2013 6388884 2013 single work biography

'Two literary lives defined by storytelling and secrets

'As her mother Joan lies dying, Gabrielle Carey writes a letter to Joan’s childhood friend, the reclusive novelist Randolph Stow. This letter sets in motion a literary pilgrimage that reveals long-buried family secrets. Like her mother, Stow had grown up in Western Australia. After early literary success and a Miles Franklin Award win in 1958 for his novel To the Islands, he left for England and a life of self-imposed exile.

'Living most of her life on the east coast, Gabrielle was also estranged from her family’s west Australian roots, but never questioned why. A devoted fan of Stow’s writing, she becomes fascinated by his connection with her extended family, but before she can meet him he dies. With only a few pieces of correspondence to guide her, Gabrielle embarks on a journey from the red-dirt landscape of Western Australia to the English seaside town of Harwich in a quest to understand her family’s past and Stow’s place in it.

'Moving Among Strangers is a celebration of one of Australia’s most enigmatic and visionary writers.'
2015 shortlisted National Biography Award
2014 joint winner Prime Minister's Literary Awards — Non-Fiction With Helen Trinca's Madeleine: A Life of Madeleine St John.
2014 longlisted The Stella Prize
y separately published work icon Puberty Blues Carlton : McPhee Gribble , 1979 Z355484 1979 single work novel (taught in 1 units) ''By day, we were at school learning logarithms, but by night - in the back of cars, under the bowling alley, on Cronulla Beach, or, if you were lucky, in a bed while someone's parents were out - you paid off your friendship ring.' For Deb and Sue, life is about surfies, panel vans, straight-leg Levis, nicking off from school, getting wasted and fitting in. But why should guys have all the fun? Puberty Blues is raw, humorous and honest. An Australian classic. 'A profoundly moral story' -- Germaine Greer 'I don't recall reading Puberty Blues so much as devouring it. I was about thirteen, alone in my bedroom with the door firmly shut. I was fascinated' -- Kylie Minogue'
2010 shortlisted Australian Book Review Fan Poll
VIEW ALL AWARDS
Last amended 5 May 2023 13:53:51
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