Judy Bartósy studied at Grammar School in Budapest and lived in Bavaria following WWII. Through private tutoring she acquired fluency in German and English. She worked in Munich for the US Military Library and, after settling in Melbourne, as a public servant and a kindergarten teacher.
Bartosy undertook formal study at Deakin University and studied creative writing. She joined the Society of Women Writers, Victorian Branch, in 1987, became a committee member in 1990 and secretary in 1997. She joined the Thursday Poets in 1989, the Fellowship of Australian Writers in 1990, the Australian Literary Translators Association (ALiTra) in 1993 and the Victorian Writers Centre in 1994. She belonged to The Melbourne Poetry Society from 1990 to 1997 and The Australian Association of Multicultural Writers from 1995 to 1996. She served as an executive member of AeToZed Women Writers Inc. from 1993 to 1996 and contributed frequently to the Monash University publication Poetry Monash from 1995.
She has also served as judge of the Clarissa Stein Open Poetry Competition, written reviews since 1993, lectured and launched books from 1996 to 1999, given public readings from 1993 to 1996 and made several translations into English of the works of Hungarian writers. Awards received include: First Prize in the Coolum and Interstate Writers Poetry Competition, Queensland, July 1991, an achievement medallion for First Decade of Poetry, presented by the Australia Day Council, Melbourne Poetry Society, August 1991, Third Prize in Best Poem category, Society of Women Writers, Christmas Awards, November, 1991, Runner up in Robert Burns Poetry Competition, Scotland 1996, First Prize in Best Novel to 50 Words, Society of Women Writers, Christmas Awards, November, 1998.
