Cory Taylor (1955 – 5 July 2016) was an Australian writer. Taylor was born in Southport, Queensland and lived in Fiji and Kenya as a child. She studied history at the Australian National University, and then worked as a freelance film and television writer, with her work including the 1988 two-part television film '' Alterations'' for the ABC. Her first books were the ''Rat Tales'' and ''Bandaged Bear'' series of children's books. Diagnosed with

melanoma Melanoma, also redundantly known as malignant melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that develops from the pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye ( ...

in 2005, Taylor turned to writing fiction and her 2011 début novel, ''Me and Mr Booker'', won the

Commonwealth Book Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Bes ...

for the Pacific Region in 2012. Her next book, ''My Beautiful Enemy'' (2013), was shortlisted for the

Miles Franklin Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–195 ...

. As her health worsened, Taylor wrote her last book ''Dying: A Memoir'', which was published just before her death from melanoma-related brain cancer on 5 July 2016. It was shortlisted for the 2017

Stella Prize The Stella Prize is an Australian annual literary award established in 2013 for writing by Australian women in all genres, worth $50,000. It was originally proposed by Australian women writers and publishers in 2011, modelled on the UK's Baileys W ...

and included in Barack Obama's list of best books in 2017.

Bibliography

* ''Rat Tales'', illustrated by Stephen Michael King, Scholastic Australia, Sydney, 1999, Vol. 1, ''Rat's Lucky Day'' and ''Rat Goes Fishing'', ; Vol. 2, ''Rat and the Rude Cap'' and ''Rat and the Big Stink'' * ''Bandaged Bear and the Broken Bones'', co-authored with Peter Townsend, Scholastic Australia, Sydney, 2001, * ''Bandaged Bear Saves His Breath'', co-authored with Peter Townsend, Scholastic Australia, Sydney, 2001, * ''Bandaged Bear and the Birthday Party'', co-authored with Peter Townsend, Scholastic Australia, Sydney, 2002, * ''Me and Mr Booker'', Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2010, ** German: ''Mr. Booker und ich'', List/Ullstein Verlag, Berlin, 2019, * * ''My Beautiful Enemy'', Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2013, * ''Dying: A Memoir'', Text Publishing, Melbourne, 2016,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Cory 1955 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Australian women writers 20th-century Australian writers 21st-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian women writers Australian children's writers Australian National University alumni Australian television writers Australian women children's writers Australian women novelists Australian women screenwriters Deaths from brain tumor Deaths from cancer in Queensland Deaths from melanoma Griffith Review people Australian women television writers Writers from Queensland