Rosie Scott - Work

Work

Scott's first published work was a 1984 volume of poetry Flesh and Blood, followed by the play Say Thank You to the Lady, for which she won the prestigious Bruce Mason Award in 1986. In 1988, at the age of 40, Scott published her first novel, Glory Days. It was shortlisted for the New Zealand Book Awards, and was published in New Zealand, Australia, the U.K. and the U.S.. Since then, Scott has published five more novels, a short story collection and a collection of essays. She has stated that she likes to write about "the kind of things nobody else talks about and a lot of people would avoid."

Scott has been active in the Australian writing community in her work for Sydney PEN and the Australian Society of Authors (ASA). Scott served on the board and the executive of the ASA for ten years, during which time she was elected Chair. In 2005, she was appointed to a permanent honorary position on the ASA Council. She served as the Vice President of Sydney PEN, and was awarded the inaugural Sydney PEN Award in 2006.

Scott has campaigned extensively on human rights issues in Australia, saying, "My writing is fuelled by me as a totality, but also by my political feelings." With Tom Keneally, she co-edited an anthology of refugee writing, Another Country, for which she was nominated for the 2004 Human Rights Medal. She was a co-founder of Women for Wik, a group dedicated to reconciliation with Aboriginal people in Australia.

Scott completed a Diploma in Counselling and a Doctorate at the University of Western Sydney. She currently teaches creative writing at the University of Technology Sydney, as well as working as a mentor for young and novice writers.