Susan Hawthorne

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Susan Hawthorne (born 30 November 1951) is an Australian writer, poet, political commentator and publisher. [1] Together with Renate Klein, she is co-founder and director of Spinifex Press, [2] a leading independent feminist publisher that celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2016 in Melbourne with a festival of radical feminism. [3] She and Klein were named winners of the George Robertson Award, which recognises publishers with 30 years or more service to publishing. [4]

Contents

Career

Hawthorne is an expert in feminist publishing as well as independent publishing generally. She is the English language co-ordinator of The International Alliance of Independent Publishers (based in Paris). [5] Hawthorne has a doctorate in Women's Studies and Political Science from the University of Melbourne, [6] as well as post graduate qualifications in Ancient Greek and Sanskrit and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Philosophy from La Trobe University. She is an adjunct professor in the Writing Program at James Cook University. [7]

Hawthorne is also an aerialist and circus performer. She has performed solo and in the Performing Older Women's Circus as well as in the Melbourne's Women's Circus. [8]

Writing

Hawthorne's writing includes poetry, fiction and non-fiction books. [9]

Her poetry collection Cow was shortlisted for the 2012 Kenneth Slessor Poetry Prize in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards and the Audre Lorde Lesbian Poetry Prize (USA). Her poetry collection Earth'sBreath was shortlisted for the 2010 Judith Wright Poetry Prize. [10]

Her novel The Falling Woman was selected as one of The Australian 's Year's Best Books (1992) and a Top Twenty Title in the Listener Women's Book Festival (NZ). [11]

The Spinifex Quiz Book was a finalist in The Australian Educational Publishing Awards (1993) [12] and Wild Politics: Feminism, Globalisation and Biodiversity was included in Australian Book Review's list of Best Books for 2002. [13]

Hawthorne has been the recipient of two international residencies: in 2013 from the Australia Council for the Arts for six months to write Lupa and Lamb in Rome and in 2009 a four-month residency for Arts Queensland and the Australia Council to Chennai, India to write Cow. [14]

Hawthorne's work has been published in Australia and internationally in anthologies and literary magazines, in the annual Best Australian Poems (three times) and broadcast on Radio National's Poetica. [14]

Bibliography

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Spinifex Press is an independent feminist book publisher based in Australia. It was established in March 1991 by Renate Klein and Susan Hawthorne. It has over 200 titles in print and publishes both fiction and non-fiction that is innovative and controversial. It specialises in subjects of feminist interest including lesbian literature, women's health, writing by indigenous, Asian and African women and books discussing ecology, globalisation, violence against women, prostitution and pornography. Spinifex was one of the earliest Australian publishers to adapt to new technologies by offering a web-based catalogue and enabling on-line purchase of all titles. It has been publishing ebooks since 2006.

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References

  1. Melbourne, National Foundation for Australian Women and The University of. "Hawthorne, Susan - Woman - The Australian Women's Register". www.womenaustralia.info. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  2. "Spinifex Press". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  3. "Spinifex to host 25th-anniversary celebration". Books+Publishing. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  4. "Congratulations to the winners of the 2015 George Robertson Award". Australian Publishers' Association. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  5. "Governance". Alliance Internationale des Éditeurs Indépendants. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  6. Hawthorne, Susan (2004), Wild Politics: Feminism, Globalisation and Bio-Diversity, Spinifex Press, ISBN   978-1-74219-220-8
  7. "Humanities and Creative Arts staff". James Cook University. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  8. "Dr Susan Hawthorne". Here She Is – Directory of Women. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  9. "Amazon.com: Susan Hawthorne: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  10. Press, Spinifex. "Spinifex Press » Susan Hawthorne". www.spinifexpress.com.au. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  11. Hawthorne, Susan (1992). The Falling Woman. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Spinifex Press. ISBN   978-1-875559-04-6.
  12. Hawthorne, Susan (1993). The Spinifex Quiz Book: a book of women's answers. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Spinifex Press. ISBN   978-1-875559-15-2.
  13. Patience, Allan (1 December 2002). "Best Books of the Year 2002". Australian Book Review. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  14. 1 2 "Susan Hawthorne". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  15. Cleckley, Donovan (16 June 2021). "Woman and Nature: A Review of 'Vortex'". Women Are Human. Retrieved 21 June 2021.