Glenda Adams
Encyclopedia
Glenda Emilie Adams (30 December 1939 – 11 July 2007) was an Australian novelist and short story writer, probably best known as the winner of the 1987 Miles Franklin Award
for Dancing on Coral. She was also a teacher of creative writing, and helped develop writing programs.
Adams' work is found in her own books and short story collections, in numerous short story anthologies, and in journals and magazines. Essays, stories and articles by her have been published in: Meanjin
, The New York Times Book Review
, Island, Panorama, Quadrant
, Southerly
, Westerly
, The Sydney Morning Herald
, The Good Weekend, Vogue Australia, The (London) Observer
and The Village Voice
.
, a Sydney
suburb, the younger of two children. She attended Fort Street Primary School for two years and Sydney Girls High School
before going to the University of Sydney
from which she graduated with an honours degree in Indonesian.
She was a cousin of Australian Prime Minister, John Howard
, but held opposing political views and wanted to become a political journalist. She moved to New York City
when she won a scholarship to study at Columbia University
, Graduate School of Journalism
and graduated in 1965. During this time, she met Gordon Adams, a political scientist at Columbia. They married in 1967 and had a daughter, Caitlin, before divorcing.
She worked as a lecturer at a number of tertiary institutions, including Columbia University
, Sarah Lawrence College
, before returning to Australia and the University of Technology, Sydney
. Her subject was writing skills and creative writing. She helped design the master of arts writing program at the university, a program which became a model for postgraduate writing programs throughout Australia.
For the rest of her life, she travelled regularly between New York, to see her daughter and teach at Columbia, and Sydney.
On 13 July 2007, Jeremy Fisher, Executive Director of the Australian Society of Authors
, announced that Glenda Adams had died two days previously in Sydney, following a battle with ovarian cancer
. Her funeral was held on 18 July.
While at Columbia University
, she joined a fiction workshop and started writing using her real name, having used a male name prior to that to prevent her friends knowing she was writing fiction. Her short stories were published in such magazines as Ms., The Village Voice
and Harper's.
After 16 years away, she returned to Australia and became writer-in-residence at the University of Western Australia
, University of Adelaide
and Macquarie University
. Her literary friends included Australians Robert Drewe
and Kate Grenville
(for whom she was also a supervising Associate Professor at the University of Technology, Sydney
along with Paula Hamilton for Grenville's Doctorate of Creative Writing in 2006), and the American Grace Paley
.
In 1987, her second novel, Dancing on Coral won the Miles Franklin Award
and the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award
but a residential rule for the latter resulted in her being denied it. Instead, the prize money was used for a fellowship for a young writer and she was compensated with a special award (with no money attached). Her third novel, Longleg, published in 1990, was also an award-winner. Her fourth novel, The Tempest of Clemenza was published in both Australia and the USA in 1996, and in 1998, her play, The Monkey Trap, was performed at the Griffin Theatre
, in Sydney.
Miles Franklin Award
The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize for the best Australian ‘published novel or play portraying Australian life in any of its phases’. The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin , who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career ...
for Dancing on Coral. She was also a teacher of creative writing, and helped develop writing programs.
Adams' work is found in her own books and short story collections, in numerous short story anthologies, and in journals and magazines. Essays, stories and articles by her have been published in: Meanjin
Meanjin
Meanjin is an Australian literary journal. The name - pronounced Mee-AN-jin - is derived from an Aboriginal word for the land where the city Brisbane is located.It was founded in December 1940, in Brisbane, by Clem Christesen...
, The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
, Island, Panorama, Quadrant
Quadrant (magazine)
Quadrant is an Australian literary and cultural journal. The magazine takes a conservative position on political and social issues, describing itself as sceptical of 'unthinking Leftism, or political correctness, and its "smelly little orthodoxies"'. Quadrant reviews literature, as well as...
, Southerly
Southerly
Southerly is the name of a storm or front of air coming from the south. In the Southern Hemisphere these can be cold and have bad weather. In Wellington, New Zealand these storms are normally short and frequently have winds gusting between 120 km/h and 160 km/h though higher speeds are...
, Westerly
Westerly (Australian literary magazine)
Westerly is a literary magazine that is produced at the University of Western Australia English Department since 1956. It is currently publishes two issues a year....
, The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
, The Good Weekend, Vogue Australia, The (London) Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
and The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
.
Life
Adams was born in RydeRyde
Ryde is a British seaside town, civil parish and the most populous town and urban area on the Isle of Wight, with a population of approximately 30,000. It is situated on the north-east coast. The town grew in size as a seaside resort following the joining of the villages of Upper Ryde and Lower...
, a Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
suburb, the younger of two children. She attended Fort Street Primary School for two years and Sydney Girls High School
Sydney Girls High School
Sydney Girls High School is an academically selective, Public high school for girls, located at Moore Park, in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
before going to the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
from which she graduated with an honours degree in Indonesian.
She was a cousin of Australian Prime Minister, John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
, but held opposing political views and wanted to become a political journalist. She moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
when she won a scholarship to study at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, Graduate School of Journalism
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is one of Columbia's graduate and professional schools. It offers three degree programs: Master of Science in journalism , Master of Arts in journalism and a Ph.D. in communications...
and graduated in 1965. During this time, she met Gordon Adams, a political scientist at Columbia. They married in 1967 and had a daughter, Caitlin, before divorcing.
She worked as a lecturer at a number of tertiary institutions, including Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
, before returning to Australia and the University of Technology, Sydney
University of Technology, Sydney
The University of Technology Sydney is a university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1981, although its origins trace back to the 1870s. UTS is notable for its central location as the only university with its main campuses within the Sydney CBD...
. Her subject was writing skills and creative writing. She helped design the master of arts writing program at the university, a program which became a model for postgraduate writing programs throughout Australia.
For the rest of her life, she travelled regularly between New York, to see her daughter and teach at Columbia, and Sydney.
On 13 July 2007, Jeremy Fisher, Executive Director of the Australian Society of Authors
Australian Society of Authors
The Australian Society of Authors is the peak body representing Australia's literary creators and is the major advocate for the rights and remuneration of authors in Australia...
, announced that Glenda Adams had died two days previously in Sydney, following a battle with ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth arising from the ovary. Symptoms are frequently very subtle early on and may include: bloating, pelvic pain, difficulty eating and frequent urination, and are easily confused with other illnesses....
. Her funeral was held on 18 July.
Literary career
Adams started writing at the age of 10, with the encouragement of her mother.While at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, she joined a fiction workshop and started writing using her real name, having used a male name prior to that to prevent her friends knowing she was writing fiction. Her short stories were published in such magazines as Ms., The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
and Harper's.
After 16 years away, she returned to Australia and became writer-in-residence at the University of Western Australia
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia was established by an Act of the Western Australian Parliament in February 1911, and began teaching students for the first time in 1913. It is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia and the only university in the state to be a member of the...
, University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...
and Macquarie University
Macquarie University
Macquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...
. Her literary friends included Australians Robert Drewe
Robert Drewe
Robert Duncan Drewe is an Australian journalist, novelist and short story writer.-Biography:Drewe was born in Melbourne, but moved with his family to Perth, Western Australia at the age of six. He was educated at Hale School, and in his final year was appointed School Captain...
and Kate Grenville
Kate Grenville
Kate Grenville is one of Australia's best-known authors. She's published nine novels, a collection of short stories, and four books about the writing process....
(for whom she was also a supervising Associate Professor at the University of Technology, Sydney
University of Technology, Sydney
The University of Technology Sydney is a university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1981, although its origins trace back to the 1870s. UTS is notable for its central location as the only university with its main campuses within the Sydney CBD...
along with Paula Hamilton for Grenville's Doctorate of Creative Writing in 2006), and the American Grace Paley
Grace Paley
Grace Paley was an American-Jewish short story writer, poet, and political activist.-Biography:Grace Paley was born in the Bronx to Isaac and Manya Ridnyik Goodside, who anglicized the family name from Gutseit on immigrating from Ukraine. Her father was a doctor. The family spoke Russian and...
.
In 1987, her second novel, Dancing on Coral won the Miles Franklin Award
Miles Franklin Award
The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize for the best Australian ‘published novel or play portraying Australian life in any of its phases’. The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin , who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career ...
and the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards
The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards were established in 1979 by the New South Wales Premier Neville Wran. Commenting on its purpose, Wran said: "We want the arts to take, and be seen to take, their proper place in our social priorities...
but a residential rule for the latter resulted in her being denied it. Instead, the prize money was used for a fellowship for a young writer and she was compensated with a special award (with no money attached). Her third novel, Longleg, published in 1990, was also an award-winner. Her fourth novel, The Tempest of Clemenza was published in both Australia and the USA in 1996, and in 1998, her play, The Monkey Trap, was performed at the Griffin Theatre
Griffin Theatre Company
Griffin Theatre Company is an Australian theatre specialising in new writing. It is the resident theatre company at the SBW Stables Theatre in Kings Cross, Sydney, Australia...
, in Sydney.
Awards
- 1991: National Book Council Banjo Award for Fiction, Joint Winner for Longleg
- 1990: The Age Book of the YearThe Age Book of the YearThe Age Book of the Year Awards are annual literary awards presented by Melbourne's The Age newspaper. The awards were first presented in 1974. Since 1998 they have been presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival...
Award for Imaginative Writing for Longleg - 1987: Miles Franklin AwardMiles Franklin AwardThe Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize for the best Australian ‘published novel or play portraying Australian life in any of its phases’. The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin , who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career ...
for Dancing on Coral - 1987: New South Wales Premier's Literary AwardsNew South Wales Premier's Literary AwardsThe New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards were established in 1979 by the New South Wales Premier Neville Wran. Commenting on its purpose, Wran said: "We want the arts to take, and be seen to take, their proper place in our social priorities...
, Special Award for Dancing on Coral.
Novels
- Games of the Strong (1982)
- Dancing on CoralDancing on CoralDancing on Coral is a Miles Franklin Award winning novel by Australian author Glenda Adams.-Awards:*Miles Franklin Literary Award, 1987: winner*New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, 1987: winner-Notes:...
(1987) - Longleg (1990)
- The Tempest of Clemenza (1996)
Short story collections
- Lies and Stories (1976)
- The Hottest Night of the Century (1979)review 30 July 1989
Scripts
- Pride (1993)
- Wrath (1993)
- The Monkey Trap commissioned by Griffin TheatreGriffin Theatre CompanyGriffin Theatre Company is an Australian theatre specialising in new writing. It is the resident theatre company at the SBW Stables Theatre in Kings Cross, Sydney, Australia...
, Sydney (1998)