Anita Heiss

Anita Heiss

Contributions

The Hen’s Night (Girls’ Night In 4)

Biography

Dr Anita Heiss is one of Australia’s most prolific and well-known authors publishing across genres including non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial fiction, and children’s novels

She is a regular guest at writers’ festivals and travels internationally performing her work and lecturing on aboriginal literature. She is a Lifetime Ambassador of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation and a proud member of the Wiradjuri nation of central New South Wales

Anita is an Ambassador of the GO Foundation, Worowa Aboriginal College and the Sydney Swans (Australian Rules Football Team)

She was a finalist in the 2012 Human Rights Awards (for her memoir Am I Black Enough For You? and the 2013 Australian of the Year Awards (Local Hero Award).

She is a Board Member of the University of Queensland Press, Circa and the National Justice Project. In 2019, she was appointed a Professor of Communications at the University of Queensland. When not teaching, she is writing, public speaking and being a ‘creative disruptor’.

Anita’s children’s literature includes Kicking Goals with Goodesy and Magic, co-written with Adam Goodes and Michael O’Loughlin. She also wrote two kids’ novels with students from La Perouse Public School – Yirra and her deadly dog Demon and Demon Guards the School Yard.

Her other published works include the historical novel Who Am I? The Diary of Mary Talence, Sydney 1937, non-fiction text Dhuuluu-Yala (To Talk Straight) – Publishing Aboriginal Literature and The Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, co-authored with Peter Minter.

Her adult fiction includes Not Meeting Mr Right, Avoiding Mr Right, Manhattan Dreaming, Paris Dreaming and Tiddas. Her recent books include Harry’s Secret, Matty’s Comeback, and Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms which was shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards and longlisted for the Dublin International Literary Prize.

As an advocate for Indigenous literacy, Anita has worked in remote communities as a role model and encouraging young Indigenous Australians to write their own stories. On an international level she has performed her own work and lectured on Aboriginal literature across the globe at universities and conferences, consulates and embassies in the USA, Canada, the UK, Tahiti, Fiji, New Caledonia, Spain, Japan, Austria, Germany and New Zealand.

One of her hobbies is Marathon running!

Anita lives in Brisbane, Australia.

Contributions

The Hen’s Night (Girls’ Night In 4)

Biography

Dr Anita Heiss is one of Australia’s most prolific and well-known authors publishing across genres including non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial fiction, and children’s novels

She is a regular guest at writers’ festivals and travels internationally performing her work and lecturing on aboriginal literature. She is a Lifetime Ambassador of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation and a proud member of the Wiradjuri nation of central New South Wales

Anita is an Ambassador of the GO Foundation, Worowa Aboriginal College and the Sydney Swans (Australian Rules Football Team)

She was a finalist in the 2012 Human Rights Awards (for her memoir Am I Black Enough For You? and the 2013 Australian of the Year Awards (Local Hero Award).

She is a Board Member of the University of Queensland Press, Circa and the National Justice Project. In 2019, she was appointed a Professor of Communications at the University of Queensland. When not teaching, she is writing, public speaking and being a ‘creative disruptor’.

Anita’s children’s literature includes Kicking Goals with Goodesy and Magic, co-written with Adam Goodes and Michael O’Loughlin. She also wrote two kids’ novels with students from La Perouse Public School – Yirra and her deadly dog Demon and Demon Guards the School Yard.

Her other published works include the historical novel Who Am I? The Diary of Mary Talence, Sydney 1937, non-fiction text Dhuuluu-Yala (To Talk Straight) – Publishing Aboriginal Literature and The Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, co-authored with Peter Minter.

Her adult fiction includes Not Meeting Mr Right, Avoiding Mr Right, Manhattan Dreaming, Paris Dreaming and Tiddas. Her recent books include Harry’s Secret, Matty’s Comeback, and Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms which was shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards and longlisted for the Dublin International Literary Prize.

As an advocate for Indigenous literacy, Anita has worked in remote communities as a role model and encouraging young Indigenous Australians to write their own stories. On an international level she has performed her own work and lectured on Aboriginal literature across the globe at universities and conferences, consulates and embassies in the USA, Canada, the UK, Tahiti, Fiji, New Caledonia, Spain, Japan, Austria, Germany and New Zealand.

One of her hobbies is Marathon running!

Anita lives in Brisbane, Australia.