Mendelssohn worked in art galleries in Sydney and Newcastle. She started writing catalogue introductions, then books, and became a fulltime writer. She received Literature Board, Australia Council Fellowships in 1985 and 1987, and the 1992 George Munster Prize for Free-lance Journalism.
Mendelssohn wrote book reviews and features for the Sydney Morning Herald 1988-1995, also writing for the Bulletin and The Australian during that time.
Since 1999 she has been an Associate Professor at the College of Fine Arts, UNSW.
