Robyn Cadwallader

Robyn is an editor and writer who lives in the country outside Canberra.

She has published poems, prize-winning short stories and reviews, a poetry collection, i painted unafraid and a non-fiction book based on her PhD thesis about virginity and female agency in the Middle Ages.

Her first novel, The Anchoress (2015, Fourth Estate Australia, Faber & Faber, UK, Farrer, Straus & Giroux, US, and Gallimard France) was received with critical acclaim: it ‘achieves what every historical novel attempts: reimagining the past while opening a new window to our present lives’ (SMH) and ‘leaves behind a deeper sense of the power of the written word’ (ABR).
It was awarded a Canberra Critics’ Circle Award for fiction and the ACT Book of the Year People’s Choice Award, was shortlisted for the ABIA Awards (Debut Fiction), the Adelaide Festival Literary Awards, and longlisted for the ABIA Awards (Literary Fiction and New Author).

In response to the government’s policies on asylum-seekers, she edited a book of essays by prominent lawyers and activists, We Are Better Than This (ATF Press, 2015).

Her second novel, Book of Colours, was released by HarperCollins in April, 2018.

‘I have always been involved with words and writing in one way or another. I have spent much time and energy teaching creative writing and all kinds of English literature at university, with a special interest in medieval literature. I loved it, but now I’ve moved on to focus on what I had always wanted to do — writing.
I live in the country outside Canberra. A lovely man, two dogs, two alpacas, four chooks and a host of birdlife keep me company.’