Michelle de Kretser

• Name — Michelle de Kretser • Birthplace — Colombo, Ceylon • Citizenship — Australian • Education — University of Melbourne • Notable Works — The Hamilton Case; The Lost Dog; Questions of Travel; The Life to Come • Partner — Chris Andrews • Awards — Miles Franklin Award (2013, 2018) Christina Stead Prize for Fiction (2008, 2014, 2019)

Born in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), de Kretser moved to Australia in 1972 when she was 14. Her father was Oswald Leslie De Kretser III, a judge of the Supreme Court of Ceylon. She was educated at Methodist College, Colombo, in Melbourne at Elwood College, and in Paris.

From 1989 to 1992, De Kretser was a founding editor of the Australian Women's Book Review. She worked as an editor for the travel guide company Lonely Planet, and while on a sabbatical in 1999, wrote and published her first novel, The Rose Grower. Her second novel, The Hamilton Case, was winner of the Tasmania Pacific Prize, the Encore Award (in the UK) and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Southeast Asia and Pacific). Her third novel, The Lost Dog, was published in 2007. It was one of 13 books on the longlist for the 2008 Man Booker Prize. Her fourth novel, Questions of Travel, won several awards, including the 2013 Miles Franklin Award, the 2013 ALS Gold Medal, and the 2013 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction. It was also shortlisted for the 2014 International Dublin Literary Award. Her 2017 novel, The Life to Come, was shortlisted for the 2018 Stella Prize, and won both the Miles Franklin Award and the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction. This is the third time Michelle de Kretser has won this prize and equals Peter Carey's record of wins. Her novel Theory & Practice was published in 2024.

• The Rose Grower (1999) • The Hamilton Case (2003) • The Lost Dog (2007) • Questions of Travel (2012) • Springtime (2014) • The Life to Come (2017) • Scary Monsters (2021) • Theory & Practice (2024)

• On Shirley Hazzard (2019)