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Courtesy of author.
Hazel Edwards Hazel Edwards i(A5841 works by) (a.k.a. Hazel Eileen Edwards)
Also writes as: A. K. Aye
Born: Established: 1945 Melbourne, Victoria, ;
Gender: Female
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BiographyHistory

Melbourne-born Hazel Edwards M.Ed, B.A. Dip Ed, T.P.T.C. (1945- ) qualified as a primary teacher and graduated from Monash University after studying while teaching fulltime. Her first YA novel General Store (1972) has been included in the Untapped Australian Literary Heritage Project. Best known is her picture book series There’s a Hippopotamus on our Roof Eating Cake (1980) illustrated by Deborah Niland. It toured nationally as the Garry Ginivan musical Hippo! Hippo!

Hazel has written 220 books for adults and children. Coping successfully with being different, cultural diversity and social justice with humour are common themes.

Adult non-fiction titles include Difficult Personalities, Complete Your Book in a Year and Writing a Non Boring Family History. Her works are published in Chinese, Korean, Finnish, Japanese, Russian, Braille, Auslan signing and dylexic font.

Recipient of an 2001 Antarctic Fellowship, she researched on an expedition to Australia’s Casey Base in Antarctica and has published Antarctic themed stories in multi-media.

Her works are published in the UK and USA and Asia and she was the first Nanjing International Cultural Exchange author ambassador with dual language projects. Hazel is a Reading Ambassador for groups including YABBA & Dolly Parton Imagination Library.

Honors include ALMA nomination 2012, 2011 and 2010 and the ASA medal (Australian Society of Authors) 2009. In 2013 she was awarded an OAM for services to Literature and in 2017 the YABBA Graham Davey Citation. Monash University awarded her as the Distinguished Alumni for Education 2022. Also Patron of the Society of Women Writers (Vic) and a director on the board of the Australian Society of Authors for 20 years. Not Just a Piece of Cake: Being an Author, her unconventional memoir, was audio recorded and Hazel continues to write in diverse fields. Grief and Loss in Schools is a 2023 publication.

In 2024, she was interviewed for the Wisepreneurs podcast, covering the 50 years since her first book was published. (Interview available here.)

Most Referenced Works

Notes

  • For information about this author's works for children not included in AustLit, see Australian Children's Books by Marcie Muir and Kerry White (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1992-2003).

  • Edwards' website Hazel Edwards: An Australian Author can be found at http://www.hazeledwards.com/.

On the Web

Personal Awards

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Celebrant Sleuth : I Do ... or Die Vermont South : BookPOD , 2017 14314305 2017 single work single work novel crime

''I buried my father, married my sister and sorted the missing will.'

'Quinn, a celebrant with style and a few obsessions but a good heart, solves quirky problems, mysteries and the occasional murder at weddings, funerals and naming ceremonies in her country town.

'Ex-actor with a great voice who writes eulogies to die for! Not forgetting a few quotable 'Quinn's Laws of Relativity'. A romantic, but asexual, Quinn lives with her long term partner Art who runs community Channel Zero.

'The workstyle of a celebrant is never routine. Fake I.D. Fraud. Fights, even to the death, over wills and inheritance ... Mislaid rings. Lost bride. Food poisoning. Clients of varied ages and cultures are well looked after. Even vintage millionairess Flora with the much younger lover who might be a con-artist.

'Quinn solves most problems but not always in the expected way.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.
2018 longlisted Davitt Award — Best Adult Crime Novel
y separately published work icon Fake ID Sydney : Pan , 2002 Z984065 2002 single work novel young adult mystery
2003 nominated Davitt Award — Best Young Adult Book
y separately published work icon Duty Free Port Melbourne : Lothian , 2002 Z962078 2002 single work children's fiction children's thriller 'Fourteen-year-old Sam travels to China with her mum, well-known protestor Dr Lee, science writer and pacifist. Chinese dissidents have proof of atomic underground testing in Tibet and scientific formulae which they want to smuggle out to the Western media. Mum has carried out personal letters for dissidents before, but political maps or scientific formulae are a different issue. Officially that's spying, even if Mum believes it helps world peace to share scientific information. Worried, Sam starts imagining they are being watched, everywhere. Sam wants to help her Mum, but is it her duty or just someone else's politics?' (Source: Bookseller's website)
2003 nominated Davitt Award — Best Young Adult Book
VIEW ALL AWARDS
Last amended 24 May 2024 13:00:41
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