Wendy Harmer Wendy Harmer i(A27095 works by) (birth name: Wendy Brown)
Born: Established: 1955 Yarram, Yarram - Woodside area, Central Gippsland, Gippsland, Victoria, ;
Gender: Female
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BiographyHistory

Wendy Harmer gained a diploma in vocational writing at Gordon Institute of Technology, Geelong, and then worked as a journalist. She eventually gave up journalism and became a writer and comedian. She wrote for, and performed in, a number of ABC TV programs, such as The Gillies Report and The Big Gig, and she had her own late night chat show, In Harmer's Way (1990), and worked for a Sydney radio station. During the boom in Australian comedy in the 1980s, she became one of Australia's top female comedians. She was the first woman to host a TV comedy show in Australia.

Harmer has stated that one of the factors leading to her career in stand-up comedy was her experience growing up with a double cleft lip and palate (which were surgically corrected when she was fifteen, in an operation that required her mouth to be sewn closed for three months).

Harmer was appointed a member of the board of the Playbox Theatre in 1986. She has conducted comedy writers workshops at several institutions and has been involved in organising and performing at comedy festivals in Australia and overseas.

Harmer has also found success as a novelist. She has written books for children, young adults, and adults. Her 'Pearlie' series has been translated into ten languages, and has also been made into an animated television program.


Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon I Lost My Mobile at the Mall : Teenager on the Edge of Technological Breakdown North Sydney : Random House Australia , 2009 Z1645658 2009 single work novel young adult humour 'I lost my mobile at the mall and am now facing certain death. My mother will accuse me of being lazy, ungrateful and plain old stupid. The first death I suffer will be from an utter lack of natural justice. My father will sentence me to die by disappointment. His shoulders will sag and there will be a long escape of air from his chest, as if I've crept up behind him and pulled out his plug. As if I deliberately lost my mobile phone to prove to him that there is no God. My best friend will kill me, all because there's a photo in my mobile of her standing next to Hugh Jackman. I am not an overly dramatic person, but a year's worth of numbers, texts and photos were in my phone, and if I don't get them back my life is not worth living.' (Publisher's website)
2009 winner Australian Family Therapists' Award for Children's Literature Older Readers
Last amended 19 Nov 2023 11:26:35
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