Grenville, Kate

Kate Grenville was born and educated in Sydney, taking a BA honours from the University of Sydney in 1972. In 1976, after working as an editor for Film Australia, Grenville travelled to the United Kingdom and Europe, working at several editorial and secretarial jobs. While in Europe, she began writing fiction. In 1980 she moved to Colorado, USA, to complete a masters degree in creative writing. Several of her subsequent publications were developed here and she also began her career as a teacher of creative writing.

Grenville returned to Australia in 1983. Her first collection of short stories, Bearded Ladies, appeared in 1984. That year she also won the Australian/Vogel National Literary Award for her unpublished novel, Lilian's Story. While Grenville's early fiction exhibits a strong feminist tone, her later fiction often explores the social limitations on both men and women. But it is Grenville's exploration of women's progress in both gothic and comic modes for which she is most admired.

Grenville's career as a teacher of creative writing has produced several books, including Making Stories: How Ten Australian Novels Were Written (1993) which analyses the manuscripts of writers such as Peter Carey, Elizabeth Jolley and Patrick White. Grenville's writing career has been supported by several Australia Council grants and she has won a number of literary prizes. She currently resides in Sydney where she teaches and reviews while continuing her own career in fiction.