Kate Constable (born 1966) is an Australian author. Her

first novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

was '' The Singer of All Songs'', the first in the ''Chanters of Tremaris'' trilogy. It was later followed by '' The Waterless Sea'' and ''The Tenth Power''.

Biography

Constable was born in

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places Australia * Sandringham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Sandringham, Queensland, a rural locality * Sandringham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station * ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. When she was six, her family moved to

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

for her father's work as a pilot. She enrolled in an Arts/Law degree at

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state of Victoria. Its ...

. She finished her degrees in seven years, working part-time in various jobs. She settled into the job that was to become her main source of income for the next thirteen years: phone sales, administration assistant and occasional receptionist at

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the gl ...

. She started writing after many years at law school and at Warner. In 1993, her first short story, "Graham Remains", was published in the literary magazine ''

Meanjin ''Meanjin'' (), formerly ''Meanjin Papers'' and ''Meanjin Quarterly'', is one of Australia's longest-running literary magazines. Established in 1940 in Brisbane, it moved to Melbourne in 1945 and as of 2008 is an editorially independent impri ...

''. In 1996 she won second prize in the annual HQ short story competition. After her first attempt at a novel, she met and fell in love with the man who is now her husband. She started to write fantasy books, the first of which became known as '' The Singer of All Songs''. In 2001, she and her husband had a baby daughter, and ''The Singer of All Songs'' was accepted for publication only a few weeks later.

Bibliography

Novels

''Chanters of Tremaris'' *'' The Singer of All Songs'' (2002) *'' The Waterless Sea'' (2005) *''The Tenth Power'' (2006) *''Chanters of Tremaris Trilogy'' (2009, omnibus of the three novels) Other novels *''The Taste of Lightning'' (2007) *''Always Mackenzie'' (2008, book 4 in the ''Girlfriend Fiction'' series) *''Cicada Summer'' (2009) *''Winter of Grace'' (2009, book 10 in the ''Girlfriend Fiction'' series) *''Dear Swoosie'' (2010, with Penni Russon, book 17 in the ''Girlfriend Fiction'' series) *''Crow Country'' (2011) *''New Guinea Moon'' (2013) *''The January Stars'' (2020) *''Tumbleglass'' (2023)

Short fiction

*"Graham Remains" (1993) in ''

Awards and honors

Aurealis Awards * Best young-adult novel *2007 Nomination for ''The Taste of Lightning'' *2009 Short-listed (Best Children's Long Fiction) for ''Cicada Summer'' The Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards *2003 Notable Book (Older Readers) for ''Singer of All Songs'' *2004 Notable Book (Older Readers) for ''The Waterless Sea'' *2008 Notable Book (Older Readers) for ''The Taste of Lightning'' *2010 Notable Book (Older Readers) for ''Winter of Grace'' *2012 Winner: Children's Book of the Year Award: Younger Readers for ''Crow Country'' Other Awards *2009 joint winner

Children's Peace Literature Award Children's Peace Literature Award is an Australian literary prize awarded every other year by the South Australian Psychologists for Peace, an interest group of the Australian Psychological Society. The Children's Peace Literature Award was inau ...

for ''Winter for Grace'' *2021 short-listed Prime Minister's Literary Award for January Stars

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Constable, Kate 1966 births Living people Australian fantasy writers Australian women novelists Writers from Melbourne 20th-century Australian novelists Australian women science fiction and fantasy writers Australian science fiction writers 20th-century Australian women writers People from Sandringham, Victoria University of Melbourne alumni