Nadia Wheatley (born 30 April 1949) is an Australian writer whose work includes picture books, novels, biography and history. Perhaps best known for her classic picture book ''My Place'' (illustrated by Donna Rawlins), the author's biography of

Charmian Clift Charmian Clift (30 August 1923 – 8 July 1969) was an Australian writer. She was the second wife and literary collaborator of George Johnston. Early life Clift was born 30 August 1923 in Kiama, a coastal town 120 kilometres south of Sydney ...

was described by critic

Peter Craven Peter Theodore Craven
, fansite biography by Jim Blanchard. (accessed 12 July 2006). (21 June 1934 – ...

as 'one of the greatest Australian biographies'. Another book by Wheatley is ''A Banner Bold'', a historical novel. While some of the author's books for children and young adults have been honoured in the annual awards of the Children's Book Council of Australia, in 2014 Nadia was nominated by

IBBY Australia The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is a non-profit organisation to bring books and children together. In 1966, IBBY Australia was established and Ena Noël OAM became its first president and remained in this role for over 20 ...

for the

Hans Christian Andersen Award The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are two literary awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), recognising one living author and one living illustrator for their "lasting contribution to children's literature". Th ...

for Writing — the highest international recognition given to a living author whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children's literature. In 2014 Wheatley was admitted by the

University of Sydney 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 ...

to the degree of

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

''(honoris causa)'', in recognition of 'her exceptional creative achievements in the field of children's and adult literature, her work as a historian and her contribution to our understanding of Indigenous issues, cultural diversity, equity and social justice and the environment through story'.

Life

Nadia Wheatley was born in Sydney. She was educated at

Meriden School Meriden, An Anglican School for Girls is an independent Anglican single-sex early learning, primary, and secondary day school for girls, located in Strathfield, an inner-western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 189 ...

, the University of Sydney (BA Hons 1970) and

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

(MA Hons 1976). In 1975, Wheatley went to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

to live, with her then-partner, poet

Martin Johnston Martin Johnston (12 November 1947 – 21 June 1990) was an Australian poet and novelist. Biography Martin Johnston was born in Sydney on 12 November 1947, son of the writers George Johnston and Charmian Clift. His early childhood was sp ...

, son of Australian writers George Johnston and Charmian Clift.Tranter (1993) It was here that she began to write seriously.AusLit (2007) The couple lived in the town of

Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, and in a coastal village in the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

, and had a routine of writing six days a week. On her return to Australia in 1978 Wheatley lived in the Sydney suburb of Newtown, which provided the setting for her first three books — ''Five Times Dizzy'', ''Dancing in the Anzac Deli'' and ''The House that was Eureka''. After spending some years in

Apollo Bay Apollo Bay is a coastal town in southwestern Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the eastern side of Cape Otway, along the edge of the Barham River and on the Great Ocean Road, in the Colac Otway Shire. The town had a population of 1,790 at ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and the Blue Mountains, the author returned to Sydney in 1995, where she lives in the

Cooks River The Cooks River, a semi-mature tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, is a tributary of Botany Bay, located in south-western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The course of the urban waterway has been altered to accommodate various developme ...

Valley — the ‘place’ of her classic picture book, ''My Place''.

Career

Wheatley's first book, ''

Five Times Dizzy ''Five Times Dizzy'' is a children's novel by Australian author Nadia Wheatley It was first published in 1982. In 1986 it became an Australian children's television series. Plot summary ''Five Times Dizzy'' is about the comedy and drama of a ...

'' (1983) was acclaimed as Australia's first

multicultural Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''ethnic'' or cultural pluralism in which various e ...

book for children. Awarded the

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...

Special Children's Book Award, it became a

television mini-series In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. "Limited series" is a ...

that went to air on the new multicultural channel SBS in 1986. The picture book, ''My Place'', has also been produced as

26-part television adaptation, with Nadia Wheatley acting as history consultant and story consultant. Released on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

in 2009 and 2011, ''My Place'' was acknowledged as Most Outstanding Children's Series in the 2012

Logie Awards The TV Week Logie Awards (known colloquially as The Logies) is an annual ceremony celebrating and honouring the best shows and stars in Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The event is telecast live and ...

. Wheatley also used her background as a historian in the writing of the historical novel, ''The House That Was Eureka'' (1986), set in the turbulent anti-eviction battles of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Described by critic

Maurice Saxby Henry Maurice Saxby (26 December 1924 – 30 November 2014) was an Australian educator, author, critic, reviewer and authority on Australian children's literature. Early life Henry Maurice Saxby was born on 26 December 1924 in Botany, New Sou ...

as ‘a novel of enduring significance’, this was republished in 2014 as a Text Classic. While Wheatley was producing these books for children and young adults, she was also researching and writing a biography of the acclaimed Australian author, Charmian Clift. Published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

, ''The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift'' won

The Age Book of the Year ''The Age'' Book of the Year Awards were annual literary awards presented by Melbourne's ''The Age'' newspaper. The awards were first presented in 1974. After 1998, they were presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival Melbourne Writer ...

— Non Fiction (2001) and the Australian History Prize in the

New South Wales Premier's History Awards The NSW Premier's History Awards honour distinguished achievement in the interpretation of history, through both the written word and non-print media by Australian citizens and permanent residents of Australia. History The State Government of New ...

(2002). Over the last decade, Nadia Wheatley has collaborated with artist Ken Searle to produce a set of non-fiction books that exemplify the

Papunya Papunya ( Pintupi-Luritja: ''Warumpi'') is a small Indigenous Australian community roughly northwest of Alice Springs (Mparntwe) in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is known as an important centre for Contemporary Indigenous Australian ar ...

Model of Education — an Indigenous curriculum model that puts the Country at the centre of learning. This journey began during the period 1998 to 2001, when Wheatley and Searle worked as consultants at the school at Papunya (an Aboriginal community in the Western Desert, Northern Territory). While assisting the Anangu staff and students to develop resources for their curriculum, the two consultants helped produce the multi-award-winning ''Papunya School Book of Country and History'' (Allen & Unwin, 2002). Wheatley and Searle subsequently took part in the Australian Society of Authors funded mentorship program for Indigenous authors, supporting Papunya artist and teacher, Mary Malbunka, to write and illustrate her picture book memoir, ''When I Was Little, Like You'' (2003,

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It became one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and established an Australian ...

"Going Bush" project

Nadia's book ''Going Bush'' grew out of a

Harmony Day Harmony Day, an event officially expanded and renamed as Harmony Week for its 20th anniversary in 2019, is a government-declared observance celebrated annually on or around 21 March in Australia. It was introduced by the Howard government in 19 ...

project developed in 2003 by eight inner-Sydney city schools. The initial plan was to break down barriers between the communities but it developed into a larger project which included learning about the environment, Indigenous culture, and living in multicultural communities, and involved sixteen Muslim, Catholic and government schools. In 2005 Nadia Wheatley and Ken Searle were invited by the committee to work with the children on "the theme of freedom".''Students "going bush" in the city'' (2007) Wheatley and Searle used an educational model they had developed with others in the 1990s at

School in Central Australia which "puts country at the core of the curriculum". The result was the book, ''Going Bush'', which captures what the children learnt through exploring a section of urban bushland along Wolli Creek.Allen and Unwin Media Release for "Going Bush" (2007)

Awards and nominations

''Five Times Dizzy''

Special Children's Book Award (1983) *Highly Commended – CBCA Children's Book of the Year: Older Readers (1983) *Honorary Diploma –

International Board on Books for Young People International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(1983) *

AWGIE Awards The AWGIE Awards are annual awards given by the Australian Writers' Guild (AWG), for excellence in screen, television, stage, and radio writing. History The AWGIE awards were conceived in 1967, with the first event being held in 1968. Bettina ...

for Best Adaptation, Children's Television Drama (for the television mini-series) (1987)

''Dancing in the Anzac Deli''

*Commended – CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers (1984) *Honorary Diploma –

(1985)

''The House that Was Eureka''

*Shortlisted –

The Australian/Vogel Literary Award ''The Australian''/Vogel Literary Award was an Australian literary award for unpublished manuscripts by writers under the age of 35. The prize money AUD$20,000, was the richest and most prestigious award for an unpublished manuscript in Austra ...

(1984) *

Children's Book Award (1985) *Commended – CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers (1985)

''My Place''

*Won – CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Younger Readers *Won – CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Eve Pownall Award for Information Books *Won – Kids' Own Australian Literature Award (1988) *Won – White Raven Award Award (1988) *Won – Young Australian Best Book Awards (1990) *Honorary Diploma –

(1990) *Listed US Library Best Books for Young People (1988)

''Lucy in the Leap Year''

*Shortlisted – CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Younger Readers (1994) *Shortlisted – New South Wales Ministry for the Arts Awards (1994) *Shortlisted – Multicultural Award (1994)

''The Night Tolkien Died''

*Honour Book – CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers (1995)

''Highway''

*Honour Book – CBCA (1999)

''Papunya School Book of Country and History''

*Shortlisted – CBCA (2002)

''The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift''

*Won – NSW History Awards: The Australian History Prize (2002)

''Going Bush''

*Shortlisted – Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing (2007)

''Australians All''

*Winner, NSW Premier's History Award, Young People's History Award, 2014

Selected bibliography

Children's

*''

'' (1982, Oxford University Press) *''Dancing in the Anzac Deli'' (1984, Oxford University Press) *''The House that Was Eureka'' (1985, Viking Kestrel) *''1 is for One'' (illus. Helen Leitch, 1986, Oxford University Press) *''My Place'' (illus. Donna Rawlins, 1987, Collins Dove) *''Lucy in the Leap Year'' (1993, Omnibus) *''The Night Tolkien Died'' (1994, Random House) *''The Greatest Treasure of Charlemagne the King'' (illus. Deborah Klein, 1997) *''Highway'' (illus. Andrew McLean, 1998) *''Luke's Way of Looking'' (illus. Matt Ottley, 1999) *''Vigil'' (2000, Viking) *''Papunya School Book of Country and History'' (2002, illus, Ken Searle; in collaboration with Anangu staff and students, Papunya School) *''A Banner Bold: The Diary of Rosa Aarons, Ballarat goldfield, 1854'' (2000, Scholastic) *''Listening to Mondrian'' (2006, Allen and Unwin) *''Going Bush'' (illus. Ken Searle, 2007, Allen and Unwin) *''Playground'' (illus. Ken Searle, 2011, Allen and Unwin) *''Australians All'' (illus. Ken Searle, 2013, Allen and Unwin) *''Flight'' (illus. Armin Greder, 2015, Windy Hollow Books)

Adult

*''The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift'' (2001, HarperCollinsPublishers) *''Her Mother's Daughter'' (2018, Text Publishing)

References

Not in-line

*Adelaide, Debra (1988) ''Australian Women Writers: A Bibliographic Guide'', London, Pandora
Dimond, Jill (2003)
Papers of Nadia Wheatley, Ms 9000 (National Library of Australia)
Accessed: 2007-07-18 *[http://johntranter.com/prose/mj.shtml Tranter, John (1993) ''Martin Johnston'' (originally published as "introduction" to his book ''Martin Johnston — Selected Poems and Prose'')">''Students "going bush" in the city''
Accessed: 2007-07-18

*[http://www.austlit.edu.au/run?ex=ShowAgent&agentId=A)3w AusLit (2007) ''Wheatley, Nadia''">Tranter, John (1993) ''Martin Johnston'' (originally published as "introduction" to his book ''Martin Johnston — Selected Poems and Prose'')AusLit (2007) ''Wheatley, Nadia''
Accessed: 2007-07-18 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wheatley, Nadia 1949 births
Australian women short story writers Australian children's writers Children's non-fiction writers 20th-century Australian women writers Writers from Sydney Living people Australian women children's writers Australian women novelists University of Sydney alumni 20th-century Australian short story writers