Susan Johnson is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n author of literary fiction, memoir, short stories and essays. She has been a full-time writer since 1985, with occasional stints of journalism at Australian newspapers, journals and magazines.

Personal background

Johnson was born in 1956, in Brisbane, Queensland. She spent her childhood in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 but finished her schooling in Nambour, Queensland

Nambour, Queensland

The area now known as Nambour, was first settled in 1870. The town was then called Petrie's Creek. In 1890 the Maroochy Divisional Board was established...

.

Literary background

In 2011, at the National Library of Australia

National Library of Australia

The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...

, Johnson delivered the Ray Mathew Lecture entitled "Prodigal Daughter", in which she explored the topic of expatriate Australian women authors, her ambivalent relationship to Australia, and Australia's attitude towards its artists.

Published works

• Latitudes: New Writing From The North, University of Queensland Press, 1986. ISBN 0702220213
• Messages from Chaos Harper and Row, 1987. ISBN 0063120917
• Flying Lessons, Heinemann 1990. ISBN 0855613440
• A Big Life, MacMillan, 1993. ISBN 0732907721
• Women Love Sex, Vintage, 1996. ISBN 0091832551
• A Better Woman: A Memoir Random House, 1999. ISBN 0091835518
• The Broken Book, Allan & Unwin, 2005. ISBN 1741143519
• Life in Seven Mistakes, Heinemann, 2008. ISBN 978-1863256155
• On Beauty, Melbourne University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0522856026

Honors and awards

• 1985: Australia Council Literature Board New Writers Grant
• 1989: Nancy Keesing
  Nancy Keesing
  Nancy Keesing was a Jewish Australian writer and editor.Nancy Keesing was born in Sydney, Australia and attended school at Sydney Girls' Grammar School, the Frensham School and then went on to the University of Sydney...
  
   Fellowship at Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris.

APA Book Design Award Best Designed Literary Fiction Book Award	The Broken Book, 2006, shortlisted
Association for the Study of Australian Literature ALS Gold Medal ALS Gold Medal The Australian Literature Society Gold Medal is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature for “an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year.” From 1928 to 1974 it was awarded by the Australian Literature Society, then from 1983 by the Association for...	The Broken Book, 2006, shortlisted
CAL (Copyright Agency Limited) Waverley Library Award for Literature	The Broken Book, 2006, shortlisted
Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Writers is an initiative by the Commonwealth Foundation to unearth, develop and promote the best new fiction from across the Commonwealth. It's flagship are two literary awards and a website...	The Broken Book, 2006, shortlisted
International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is an international literary award for a work of fiction, jointly sponsored by the city of Dublin, Ireland and the company IMPAC. At €100,000 it is one of the richest literary prizes in the world...	The Broken Book, longlisted 2006. .
The Miles Franklin Award Miles Franklin Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize for the best Australian ‘published novel or play portraying Australian life in any of its phases’. The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin , who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career ...	The Broken Book, longlisted 2005
National Biography Award National Biography Award The National Biography Award, established in Australia in 1996, is awarded for the best published work of biographical or autobiographical writing by an Australian. It aims "to encourage the highest standards of writing biography and autobiography and to promote public interest in those genres". It...	A Better Woman, shortlisted 1999.
National Book Council Banjo Award	A Big Life, shortlisted 1994.
Nita Kibble Literary Award Nita Kibble Literary Award The Kibble Literary Awards comprise two awards which are presented annually: the Nita B Kibble Literary Award, which recognises the work of an established Australian female writer, and the Dobbie Literary Award, which is for a first published work by a female writer. The Awards recognise the works...	The Broken Book, shortlisted 2006
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards Queensland Premier's Literary Awards The Queensland Premier's Literary Awards were inaugurated in 1999 and have grown to become a leading literary awards program within Australia, with $225,000 in prizemoney over 14 categories. One of Australia's richest prizes, top categories offer up to $25,000 for 1st prize.-Fiction Book...  Fiction Prize	The Broken Book, shortlisted 2006
Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction The Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction is a component of the annual Victorian Premier's Literary Award and is valued at A$30,000. Most Australian state premiers present annual Australian literary awards to promote Australian writing in all its forms. The award is named after Vance Palmer... Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards	Flying Lessons shortlisted, 1991 A Big Life, shortlisted 1994

External links

• Pandora (Australia's Web Archive, archiving Susan Johnson's 'A Better Woman' blog as one of significance
• http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Search/Home?lookfor=author:%22Johnson%2C%20Susan%2C%201956-%22&iknowwhatimean=1