Elaine Barker was born in the Riverland, educated in Adelaide and worked as a librarian before marriage and motherhood. As a mature-age student she completed her Arts degree at the University of Adelaide and was awarded an MA in 1989 for her thesis on the early Australian novel. She began her creative writing in recent years and has had poetry and short stories published nationally and broadcast on the ABC and Radio 5UV. One of her special interests is the teaching of creative writing and she has run courses for the WEA and the University of Adelaide, Continuing Education. She is a member of the SA Writers' Centre, reads regularly at Friendly Street.
