Kerry Greenwood was born in Footscray and has lived almost her whole life there. She attended Geelong Rd Primary School and Maribyrnong High School and won a Commonwealth scholarship so she could study law and arts at the University of Melbourne. In order to support herself in the meantime she worked at many trades, including costuming, baking, and working in factories. She was admitted to the Bar on April Fools’ Day 1982 and worked for the Legal Aid Commission of Victoria for many years as defence counsel for those who had no voice of their own. Greenwood, like Rumpole, never prosecutes. Her first novel Cocaine Blues was published in 1989 and was the first in a series of twenty detective novels set in 1920s Melbourne. The Phryne Fisher series has recently been made into a TV series which has been successfully shown world-wide and was critically acclaimed. The costumes from the TV series have been frequently exhibited by the National Trust and have helped revive public interest in Rippon Lea mansion, which also served also as one of the locations.
As a result of her extensive researches into Victoria’s Gold Rush for The Castlemaine Murders Kerry discovered a long-forgotten real-life hero in Constable Thomas Cooke, who single-handedly prevented a massacre of Chinese diggers by facing down the mob. As a result of her exertions and those of the Victoria Police Historical Society, a plaque in his honour was later unveiled at Castlemaine police station.
In addition to Phryne Fisher, Kerry’s other works include the Corinna Chapman series, derived partly from her days as an apprentice baker. The Corinna Chapman mysteries (beginning with Earthly Delights) are set in present-day Melbourne and confront a number of pressing social issues, notably public charity and body image. Corinna is fat, and doesn’t care. And neither do her friends and staff. Like the Phryne Fisher stories, Corinna has been translated into many other languages. These include French, German, Russian, Italian, Slovenian and Korean.
Kerry is also an award-winning writer for children and young adults. A Different Sort of Real (set in the Great Depression) was an Honour Book in the Children’s Book Council Awards in 2002 and was shortlisted for the Qld Premier’s Award. It was followed by The Long Walk, Journey to Eureka, and Evan’s Gallipoli; all of which illuminated crucial points in Australia’s history from the perspective of young protagonists. Her book Gallipoli covers the events of 1915 for very young readers and has been recently reprinted in paperback. She has also written the Broken Wheel heptalogy (fantasy/science fiction) for young adults, three stories for the Crime Wave series and many other children’s books and short stories.
Kerry’s other works include the Delphic Women series set in Ancient Greece, Out of the Black Land (18th Dynasty Egypt), and a number of non-fiction works including Tamam Shud (an examination of a cold case murder in 1940s Adelaide) and has edited a two-volume On Murder, and The Thing She Loves, a criminological investigation on why women kill. In all Kerry has had 62 published books and still has no idea where her ideas come from. She is not married, has no children, and lives in a small cottage with her consort and three exceptionally well-behaved cats. In her spare time, she stares blankly out of the window.
Awards
The Broken Wheel won the Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Science Fiction 1996.
Feral was a Notable Young Adult Book in 1999.
A Different Sort of Real was an honour book in Children’s Book of the Year Awards 2002 and was shortlisted for Qld Premier’s Award.
The Three Pronged Dagger won the Sisters In Crime Davitt Award for Young Adult Crime Writing in 2002.
Danger: Do Not Enter won the Sisters in Crime Davitt Award for 2004.
The Long Walk was a notable book in 2005 as was The Rat and the Raven in 2006 and Ravens Rising in 2007.
The Ned Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award from Crime Writers of Australia was awarded to Kerry in 2003.
Murder in Montparnasse won an Honourable Mention for Best Book of 2006 from Glyph, Arizona. Heavenly Pleasures in 2006 and Devils’ Food in 2007 have both won the Readers’ Choice Davitt Award from Sisters in Crime.
Forbidden Fruit was the Davitt Readers’ Choice award in 2010, as was Tamam Shud in 2013.
In the same year she received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from Sisters In Crime.
Websites
All about the Author, and a Christmas visitor: kerrygreenwood.com.
The fabulous Hon. Phryne Fisher: phrynefisher.com.
Corinna Chapman, baker and amateur investigator: earthlydelights.net.au.
Messages may be passed on via the Book of Faces: facebook.com/AuthorKerryGreenwood.
The Author’s publishers are Allen & Unwin and Clan Destine Press.
This website is a production of Huon Computer Solutions. All questions and complaints regarding same should be directed to paul@huoncs.com.au.