Patricia Shaw (novelist)
Encyclopedia
Patricia Shaw is an Australian novelist and non-fiction writer. She currently lives on the Gold Coast, Queensland
, in northeast Australia.
Shaw was 52 years old before she began to write fiction. Among her many novels, most of which centre on the settlement of the Australian hinterland
and which earned her the sobriquet
of "Australia's Chronicler", the most widely known are River of the Sun (1991) and The Opal Seekers (1996).
Patricia Shaw is also actively involved in the protection of Australia's native animals and birds.
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
, in northeast Australia.
Biography
Patricia Shaw read History at university and consequently assisted the Governor of Queensland as a textwriter. Since 1983, she has led the Oral History Department of the Library of Parliament and written two works of non-fiction regarding Australia's era of settlement.Shaw was 52 years old before she began to write fiction. Among her many novels, most of which centre on the settlement of the Australian hinterland
Hinterland
The hinterland is the land or district behind a coast or the shoreline of a river. Specifically, by the doctrine of the hinterland, the word is applied to the inland region lying behind a port, claimed by the state that owns the coast. The area from which products are delivered to a port for...
and which earned her the sobriquet
Sobriquet
A sobriquet is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. It is usually a familiar name, distinct from a pseudonym assumed as a disguise, but a nickname which is familiar enough such that it can be used in place of a real name without the need of explanation...
of "Australia's Chronicler", the most widely known are River of the Sun (1991) and The Opal Seekers (1996).
Patricia Shaw is also actively involved in the protection of Australia's native animals and birds.
Fiction
- Valley of Lagoons (1989)
- River of the Sun (1991)
- The Feather and the Stone (1992)
- Where the Willows Weep (1993)
- Cry of the Rainbird (1994)
- Fire Fortune (1995)
- The Opal Seekers (1996)
- Glittering Fields (1997)
- A Cross of Stars (1998)
- Orchid Bay (1999)
- Waiting for the Thunder (2000, the sequel to The Feather and the Stone)
- On Emerald Downs (2002)
- The Five Winds (2003, the sequel to Orchid Bay)
- Storm Bay (2005)
- Mango Hill (2007, the sequel to Valley of Lagoons)