Fiona Place Fiona Place i(A7802 works by) (a.k.a. Fiona Elizabeth Place)
Born: Established: 1958 Sydney, New South Wales, ;
Gender: Female
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BiographyHistory

Fiona Place received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney, and also attended the University of Technology, Sydney, where she attained a Graduate Diploma in Communication and a Master of Arts (Creative Writing). She has co-written a self-help book on overcoming eating disorders, When Eating Is Everything (1991), and also developed the programme 'Find and Own Your Own Voice' which was implemented at both Prince Henry and Westmead hospitals, where she worked as writer-in-residence. It incorporated her continued research into how creative writing can be of use in the recovery from certain psychiatric disorders. She has also lectured at the University of Western Sydney. An advocate for children with intellectual disabilities, her essays on motherhood and genetics have appeared in peer-reviewed journals.

Place has received several grants from the Literature Board of the Australia Council and in 1992 she was awarded the NSW Ministry for the Arts Writer's Fellowship for a book on travel writing. In 1993 she was a resident at the Keesing Studio, Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris.

Latterly, Place has become interested in financial literacy, attaining a Certificate in Financial Markets from the SIA Institute. She has also contributed to the opinion page of the Australian Financial Review and had her own column 'Debt & Equity' in the Australian (1997-2002).

Most Referenced Works

Personal Awards

2016 recipient Australia Council Grants, Awards and Fellowships Australia Council Literature Board Grants Literature Arts Projects For Individuals and Groups $25,000.00

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Cardboard : The Strength Thereof and Other Related Matters Sydney : Local Consumption Publications , 1989 Z42640 1989 single work novel 'A fictionalized account of one woman's life-threatening eating disorder and her eventual hard-won recovery. Author Fiona Place has created Lucy, a narrator who is capable of taking the reader inside the dark and puzzling experience of anorexia nervosa. A university student, Lucy falls ill while on a coach trip in Europe. Ashen, thin and with a thready heartbeat, she cannot understand what is wrong with her. The tour leader decides she is homesick. And lying on her bed, she is left to fend for herself. Alone in her tiny hotel room Lucy wonders what she should do? Is she really sick or just homesick? Reluctantly, she decides to fly to an English speaking country. And to her embarrassment is taken off the plane in a wheelchair. Lucy is now a patient. And unknowingly enters into a dynamic and powerful struggle over the ownership of her life's narrative. Hospitalized she undergoes a range of treatments - some harsh, some ineffective, others insightful and intelligent. Cleverly observed, Lucy invites the reader to make sense of what it means to be ill. To understand why eating has become impossible. And as she fleshes out her journey towards recovery, demands her distress be understood. Demands it be put into her own words. When it was first published Cardboard was recognized as a compelling portrait and one of the first books to understand the importance of the role of narrative in the recovery process. Similarly today when much of the focus on eating disorders concerns decoding the genetics and biology of the condition, this prize-winning novel continues to provide an understanding of the individual's affective experience and the socio-cultural context in which it occurs.' (Source: bookseller's website)
1990 winner NBC Banjo Awards NBC Qantas New Writers' Award

Known archival holdings

University of New South Wales Australian Defence Force Academy Australian Defence Force Academy Library (ACT)
Last amended 7 Feb 2017 15:43:03
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