Michelle de Kretser

Michelle de Kretser
Born
Colombo, Ceylon
CitizenshipAustralian
EducationUniversity of Melbourne
PartnerChris Andrews
Writing career
Notable worksThe Hamilton Case; The Lost Dog; Questions of Travel; The Life to Come
Notable awardsMiles Franklin Award (2013, 2018)
Christina Stead Prize for Fiction (2008, 2014, 2019)

Michelle de Kretser is an Australian novelist who was born in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). She is a two-time winner of the Miles Franklin Award who has won the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction on three occasions.

Early life and education

Born in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), de Kretser moved to Australia in 1972 when she was 14. Her father was Oswald Leslie De Kretser III, a judge of the Supreme Court of Ceylon.

She was educated at Methodist College, Colombo, in Melbourne at Elwood College, and in Paris.

Career

From 1989 to 1992, De Kretser was a founding editor of the Australian Women's Book Review.[citation needed] She worked as an editor for the travel guide company Lonely Planet, and while on a sabbatical in 1999, wrote and published her first novel, The Rose Grower.[citation needed]

Her second novel, The Hamilton Case, was winner of the Tasmania Pacific Prize, the Encore Award (in the UK) and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Southeast Asia and Pacific). Her third novel, The Lost Dog, was published in 2007. It was one of 13 books on the longlist for the 2008 Man Booker Prize.

Her fourth novel, Questions of Travel, won several awards, including the 2013 Miles Franklin Award, the 2013 ALS Gold Medal, and the 2013 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction. It was also shortlisted for the 2014 International Dublin Literary Award.

Her 2017 novel, The Life to Come, was shortlisted for the 2018 Stella Prize, and won both the Miles Franklin Award and the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction. This is the third time Michelle de Kretser has won this prize and equals Peter Carey's record of wins.

Her novel Theory & Practice was published in 2024.

Awards

Works

Novels

Non-fiction

References

  1. ↑ "De Kretser, Michelle". AustLit. 1 November 2006. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  2. ↑ "Where she comes from". Sri Lanka Sunday Times. 24 January 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  3. ↑ "Where she comes from". sundaytimes.lk. 24 January 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  4. ↑ "The Stella Interview: Michelle de Kretser on The Life to Come · The Stella Prize". The Stella Prize. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  5. ↑ "Commonwealth Writers' Prize Regional Winners 1987–2007" (PDF). Commonwealth Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 October 2007.
  6. ↑ Mukherjee, Neel (4 September 2008). "Dog Days". Time. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
  7. 1 2 "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  8. ↑ ""Lost Dog wins NSW literary gong"". AAP Bulletin Wire 2, 19 May 2008. ProQuest 455573294. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  9. ↑ "Michelle de Kretser wins Miles Franklin literary award". The Guardian. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  10. ↑ "Awards: Aussie Prime Minister's Literary". Shelf Awareness. 26 August 2013. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  11. ↑ "Winners 2014 NSW Premier's Literary Awards announced TONIGHT". State Library of NSW. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  12. ↑ "Miles Franklin prize awarded to Michelle de Kretser". ABC News. 26 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  13. ↑ Jefferson, Dee (29 April 2019). "'I wanted to help change the conversation': History of Aboriginal archaeology wins literary prize". ABC News. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  14. ↑ "De Kretser wins 2023 Folio Prize". Books+Publishing. 28 March 2023. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  15. ↑ "De Kretser wins 2025 Stella Prize for 'Theory & Practice'". Books+Publishing. 23 May 2025. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  16. ↑ Story, Hannah (29 September 2025). "Rick Morton's book about Robodebt, Mean Streak, among Prime Minister's Literary Award winners". ABC News. Full list of winners. Archived from the original on 29 September 2025. Retrieved 29 September 2025.