Dr Sue Woolfe
Discipline of English and Writing
Sue Woolfe is the author of four novels, including the acclaimed best-selling, internationally translated Leaning Towards Infinity, which won Australia’s distinguished prize, the Christina Stead Award, for the year it was published, as well as the Asia Pacific Region section of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and was shortlisted for the Tip Tree prize in the US. It was short-listed for almost every major Australian prize. It was translated into French, Italian, and Dutch, and in 1999 was named in Australia as one of the most important books of the century. Her first novel, Painted Woman was also nominated for the Commonwealth Prize, and was runner-up in the Australian Bicentennial Award in the year of publication. It was republished several times, including in France in 2007 where it was published in translation. She has adapted both novels for ABC radio, for the professional stage, and Leaning Towards Infinity has been optioned for a film in the US. Her third novel, The Secret Cure, is currently being adapted for an opera. Her fourth novel, The Oldest Song in the World has recently been published in Australia and New Zealand, and currently is only available there. Her latest book is a collection of short stories, Do You Love Me or What?. She compiled Wild Minds: Stories of Misfits and Dreamers, an international collection of short stories, including one of hers, published 1998. She has written and published many other short stories, published in journals and newspapers. She has written, directed and produced many short documentary films, many of which have been shown on television. With Kate Grenville she wrote Making Stories: How Ten Australian Novels Were Written (1991). All her works are still in print.
- 2018 - runner-up for the Women Writers' Association for 'Do You Love Me or What'
Selected publications
(Fourth Estate, 2012)
(University of Western Australia Press, 2007)
(Pan Macmillan Australia, 2003)
Publications
Book Chapters
- Woolfe, S., Gabora, L. (2024). First-Hand Experiences of the Transformation of Traumatic Memories and Cascading Emotions in the Creative Writing Process. In Jean-Francois Vernay, Donald R. Wehrs and Isabelle Wentworth (Eds.), The Productivity of Negative Emotions in Postcolonial Literature, (pp. 74-90). New York: Routledge. [More Information]
- Woolfe, S. (2021). On Waiting Upon: Speculations by an Australian Novelist on the Experience of Writing a Commissioned Novel. In Jean-Francois Vernay (Eds.), The Rise of the Australian Neurohumanities Conversations Between Neurocognitive Research and Australian Literature, (pp. 67-79). New York: Routledge. [More Information]
- Woolfe, S. (2013). Rogues: A Speculation. In Jan Shaw, Philippa Kelly, L E Semler (Eds.), Storytelling: Critical and Creative Approaches, (pp. 286-294). Basingstoke, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. [More Information]
Journals
- Woolfe, S. (2022). Book review: The writer's mind-work. Text, , 1-8. [More Information]
- Milicevic, A., Woolfe, S., Blazely, A., Lenroot, R., Sewell, S. (2020). Enhancing creativity through seven stages of transformation in a graduate level writing course - A mixed method study. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 38, 1-12. [More Information]
- Woolfe, S. (2013). The Puzzle of the Muse. Text, 17(2), 1-7.
Textual Creative Works
- Woolfe, S. (2017). 1. Do You Love Me or What? 2. Her Laughter Like a Song of Freedom 3. Pass 4. Shame 5. Small Talk 6. The Dancer Talks 7. The Last Taxi Away From Here 8. The List-Maker. Do You Love Me or What, (pp. 1 - 232). Sydney, Australia: Simon and Schuster. [More Information]
- Woolfe, S. (2014). The twelfth taxi ride. Text: A Journal of Writing and Writing Courses, Special Issue 27, Creative Writing as Research III, (pp. 1 - 14). Adelaide, Australia: Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP).
- Woolfe, S. (2013). Landscape and the Heart. Writing the Australian Landscape, Canberra, Australia: National Library of Australia.
Magazine / Newspaper Articles
- Woolfe, S. (2024). A space where ideas can take shape in the creative arts. Times Higher Education. [More Information]
2024
- Woolfe, S. (2024). A space where ideas can take shape in the creative arts. Times Higher Education. [More Information]
- Woolfe, S., Gabora, L. (2024). First-Hand Experiences of the Transformation of Traumatic Memories and Cascading Emotions in the Creative Writing Process. In Jean-Francois Vernay, Donald R. Wehrs and Isabelle Wentworth (Eds.), The Productivity of Negative Emotions in Postcolonial Literature, (pp. 74-90). New York: Routledge. [More Information]
2022
- Woolfe, S. (2022). Book review: The writer's mind-work. Text, , 1-8. [More Information]
2021
- Woolfe, S. (2021). On Waiting Upon: Speculations by an Australian Novelist on the Experience of Writing a Commissioned Novel. In Jean-Francois Vernay (Eds.), The Rise of the Australian Neurohumanities Conversations Between Neurocognitive Research and Australian Literature, (pp. 67-79). New York: Routledge. [More Information]
2020
- Milicevic, A., Woolfe, S., Blazely, A., Lenroot, R., Sewell, S. (2020). Enhancing creativity through seven stages of transformation in a graduate level writing course - A mixed method study. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 38, 1-12. [More Information]
2017
- Woolfe, S. (2017). 1. Do You Love Me or What? 2. Her Laughter Like a Song of Freedom 3. Pass 4. Shame 5. Small Talk 6. The Dancer Talks 7. The Last Taxi Away From Here 8. The List-Maker. Do You Love Me or What, (pp. 1 - 232). Sydney, Australia: Simon and Schuster. [More Information]
2014
- Woolfe, S. (2014). The twelfth taxi ride. Text: A Journal of Writing and Writing Courses, Special Issue 27, Creative Writing as Research III, (pp. 1 - 14). Adelaide, Australia: Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP).
2013
- Woolfe, S. (2013). Landscape and the Heart. Writing the Australian Landscape, Canberra, Australia: National Library of Australia.
- Woolfe, S. (2013). Rogues: A Speculation. In Jan Shaw, Philippa Kelly, L E Semler (Eds.), Storytelling: Critical and Creative Approaches, (pp. 286-294). Basingstoke, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. [More Information]
- Woolfe, S. (2013). The Puzzle of the Muse. Text, 17(2), 1-7.
2012
- Woolfe, S. (2012). The Oldest Song in the World, (pp. 1 - 389). Sydney, Australia: Fourth Estate.
2007
- Woolfe, S. (2007). The Mystery of the Cleaning Lady: A Writer Looks at Creativity and Neuroscience. (pp. 1 - 145). Sydney, Australia: University of Western Australia Press.
2003
- Woolfe, S. (2003). The Secret Cure, (pp. 1 - 429). Sydney, Australia: Pan Macmillan Australia.