World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Gillian Mears

ギリアン・ミアーズ

Girian Miāzu

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1964-07-21 （Lismore, New South Wales, Australia）
Died
2016-05-16 （Near Grafton, New South Wales, Australia） age 51
Nationality
Australian
Languages
English
Residence History
Near Grafton, New South Wales, Australia

Career

Occupations
Writer
Active Years
1988-2016

Education

University of Sydney
Archaeology (left) / Department of Archaeology
Period: 約1982（中退）
Country: Australia
Enrolled at age 18 in archaeology but withdrew. Later completed a degree in communications.
University of Technology, Sydney
Faculty of Communications / Department of Communications
Degree: Bachelor of Communications
Period: 1980年代
Country: Australia
Completed a degree in communications

Awards

Commonwealth Writers' Prize (shortlist)
1989
Work: Ride a Cock Horse
Organization: Commonwealth Writers
Result: shortlist
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award
1990
Work: The Mint Lawn
Organization: The Australian/Vogel
Result: winner
Commonwealth Writers' Prize (shortlist)
1996
Work: The Grass Sister
Organization: Commonwealth Writers
Result: shortlist
Steele Rudd Award
2003
Work: A Map of the Gardens
Category: 短編小説集部門
Organization: Queensland Premier's Literary Awards
Result: winner
Colin Roderick Award
2011
Work: Foal's Bread
Organization: Colin Roderick Award
Result: winner
ALS Gold Medal
2012
Work: Foal's Bread
Organization: Association for the Study of Australian Literature
Result: winner
Barbara Jefferis Award (shortlist)
2012
Work: Foal's Bread
Organization: Barbara Jefferis Award
Result: shortlist
Miles Franklin Award (shortlist)
2012
Work: Foal's Bread
Organization: Miles Franklin Award
Result: shortlist
Prime Minister's Literary Awards (Fiction)
2012
Work: Foal's Bread
Category: Fiction
Organization: Prime Minister's Literary Awards
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Mint Lawn

1991 Novel

A novel portraying a young woman's growth and family relationships, noted for its rural Australian perspective.

Coming of ageFamilyRural life

The Grass Sister

1995 Novel

A literary novel weaving family tensions and secrets, notable for natural description and psychological insight.

FamilySecretsNature

Foal's Bread

2011 Novel

Set in early 20th-century rural Australia, this powerful novel explores horse racing, family, the body, passion and loss.

Horse racingPhysicalityLoss

Ride a Cock Horse

1988 Short story collection

A collection of early short stories featuring sharp portrayals of rural communities and young characters.

Rural communitiesYouthTensions of everyday life

Fineflour

1990 Short story collection

A varied short story collection that captures subtle nuances of interpersonal relationships.

Human relationshipsEveryday life

Collected Stories

1997 Short story collection

A compilation of previously published stories, representing a summation of the author's short fiction.

Short fictionRetrospective

A Map of the Gardens

2002 Short story collection

A short story collection centered on images of gardens, noted for delicate scene-setting and character insight.

MemoryPlaceRelationships

Paradise Is a Place

1997 Non-fiction

A nonfiction work combining photographs and prose; an essayistic meditation on place and memory.

PlaceMemoryPhotography

The Cat with the Coloured Tail

2015 Children's book

A children's picture book accompanied by illustrations, telling a gentle story.

ChildrenFriendship

Bibliography

  • Ride a Cock Horse (short story collection, 1988)
  • Fineflour (short story collection, 1990)
  • The Mint Lawn (novel, 1991)
  • The Grass Sister (novel, 1995)
  • Collected Stories (short story collection, 1997)
  • Paradise Is a Place (non-fiction, 1997)
  • A Map of the Gardens (short story collection, 2002)
  • Foal's Bread (novel, 2011)
  • The Cat with the Coloured Tail (children's book, 2015)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Concise, powerful proseDetailed natural description and psychological depthRealism rooted in rural settings
Recurring Motifs
Family and interpersonal relationshipsRural landscapesThe body and illnessHorses and horse racing

Health

  • Multiple sclerosis
    約1999–2016
    A long illness that affected her life and creative work; she lived with the disease until her death in 2016.

Legacy

An acclaimed Australian writer known for short stories and novels rooted in rural settings; winner of several major literary awards and an important figure in Australian literature.

Academic Societies

  • Association for the Study of Australian Literature

Archives

  • State Library of New South Wales - Gillian Mears collection

Trivia

  • Was dux (top student) at Grafton High School.
  • Lived with multiple sclerosis from around 1999 and died in 2016 at age 51.
  • Inspired to study archaeology after reading 'Gods, Graves and Scholars' but later withdrew and completed a communications degree.
  • A biography, 'Leaping into Waterfalls' by Bernadette Brennan, chronicles her life.