J. C. Burke (born 1965 in Sydney) is an Australian author, currently living in Sydney. Jane Burke was born in 1965 in Sydney, where she was the fourth of five sisters; her parents were writers. Burke did not start publishing stories until 1999. Her mother died after suffering from cancer for 10 years, just after Burke's 19th birthday.

Early life and education

Burke trained as a nurse at the

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a large teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School at the ...

and later specialised in

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's Etymology, etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγ ...

. In 2000, she took a creative writing course. After doing her course, she went to

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

with fellow Australian writer Libby Gleeson to take another writing course. Her first novel was ''White Lies'', which was published in 2002 with her mentor as Gary Crew. This book was made CBCA Notable Book for 2003. ''The Red Cardigan'' published 2004 was also a CBCA Notable Book as well as translated into Dutch and Swedish editions. ''Nine Letters Long'', the sequel to ''The Red Cardigan'' was highly commended for the 2005 Aurealis Award for best horror novel, and '' The Story of Tom Brennan'' was awarded the 2006 Book of the Year for Older Readers by the

Children's Book Council of Australia A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

,CBCA Book of the Year: Winners and Short Lists 2000–2006
and shortlisted for The Children's Peace Prize for Literature. It is on the current NSW Higher School Certificate prescriptions list as well as studied widely throughout Australia. ''Pig Boy'' was made a CBCA Notable Book for 2012 as well as an inclusion in the White Ravens Catalogue for Outstanding International Books. Burke's 10th novel ''The Things We Promise'' has been released in Australia, NZ and in the UK in 2017.

Bibliography

* ''The Things We Promise'' (2017) * '' Pretty Girl'' (2013) * '' Pig Boy'' (2011) * ''Ocean Pearl'' (2008) * ''Starfish Sisters'' (2007) * ''Faking Sweet'' (2006) * '' The Story of Tom Brennan'' (2005) * ''Nine Letters Long'' (2005) * ''The Red Cardigan'' (2004) * ''White Lies'' (2002)

References

External links

J. C. Burke's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, J. C. 1965 births Australian children's writers Australian nurses Australian women nurses Living people Australian women children's writers Australian women novelists