Marcella Polain
Encyclopedia
Marcella Polain is an Australian-resident poet, novelist and short fiction writer. She was born in Singapore
and with her family migrated to Australia
at the age of two with her Irish father and Armenian mother. Her father died when Marcella was ten, and it is this loss and her mother's survival of the Armenian Genocide that greatly inform her work. She studied Literature and Creative Arts at WAIT (now Curtin), where she was active in writing for and taking roles in stage productions. This is also where she learned to use a still camera, a continuing passion. She went to Sydney to study film at the AFTRS and worked briefly as a screen writer. After travelling the world, she returned to Perth to take a Grad Dip in Secondary Education and worked as a high school teacher for a few years. The breakup of her marriage with two little children forced changes in her work life that allowed her to concentrate on writing poems. She entered the vibrant Perth poetry scene in the early 90s, was immediately fortunate to both meet fellow poets who supported her work and to secure grants from the WA Dept of Culture and the Arts that enabled her to continue writing and developing her first two collections. She was a founding member (along with Morgan Yasbincek, Julia Lawrinson, Tracey Ryan and Sarah French, of Perth's WEB womens' readings, which brought guests such as Dorothy Porter and Gig Ryan to Perth. She has been poetry editor for the literary magazines Westerly
and Blue Dog. She tutored in Writing for 10 years at Murdoch University, during which time she began her PhD at University of Western Australia. Her first novel, "The Edge of the World'" was written for that degree, and won the University's Higher Degree by Research Prize for Publications. A revised version of her PhD's critical essay "The Stubborn Murmur" was long-listed for the 2010 Calibre Essay Prize. She now lectures at Edith Cowan University
. The Edge of the World was also nominated for the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize Regional best first book award. It is being translated for release in Romania. She is currently working, under an Australia Council grant, on a second novel about what happens to children when their father disappears.
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and with her family migrated to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
at the age of two with her Irish father and Armenian mother. Her father died when Marcella was ten, and it is this loss and her mother's survival of the Armenian Genocide that greatly inform her work. She studied Literature and Creative Arts at WAIT (now Curtin), where she was active in writing for and taking roles in stage productions. This is also where she learned to use a still camera, a continuing passion. She went to Sydney to study film at the AFTRS and worked briefly as a screen writer. After travelling the world, she returned to Perth to take a Grad Dip in Secondary Education and worked as a high school teacher for a few years. The breakup of her marriage with two little children forced changes in her work life that allowed her to concentrate on writing poems. She entered the vibrant Perth poetry scene in the early 90s, was immediately fortunate to both meet fellow poets who supported her work and to secure grants from the WA Dept of Culture and the Arts that enabled her to continue writing and developing her first two collections. She was a founding member (along with Morgan Yasbincek, Julia Lawrinson, Tracey Ryan and Sarah French, of Perth's WEB womens' readings, which brought guests such as Dorothy Porter and Gig Ryan to Perth. She has been poetry editor for the literary magazines 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....
and Blue Dog. She tutored in Writing for 10 years at Murdoch University, during which time she began her PhD at University of Western Australia. Her first novel, "The Edge of the World'" was written for that degree, and won the University's Higher Degree by Research Prize for Publications. A revised version of her PhD's critical essay "The Stubborn Murmur" was long-listed for the 2010 Calibre Essay Prize. She now lectures at Edith Cowan University
Edith Cowan University
Edith Cowan University is located in Perth, Western Australia. It was named after the first woman to be elected to an Australian Parliament, Edith Cowan, and is the only Australian university named after a woman....
. The Edge of the World was also nominated for the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize Regional best first book award. It is being translated for release in Romania. She is currently working, under an Australia Council grant, on a second novel about what happens to children when their father disappears.
Poetry
- Dumbstruck (1996) Wollongong: Five Islands Press
- Each Clear Night (2000) Wollongong: Five Islands Press
- Therapy Like Fish: new and selected poems (2008) Melbourne: John Leonard Press
Novels
- The Edge of the World (2007)Fremantle: Fremantle Press
- "The Edge of the World" (forthcoming) translation by Serge Selian. Budapest: The Armenian Association of Romania
Short fiction
- "Sleep without Cameras" in "Westerly" Dec 2010
- "Beautiful Negatives" in "The Kid on the Karaoke Stage and other stories" ed Georgia Richter. (2011) Fremantle: Fremantle Press
Honours and Awards
- Anne Elder Prize for "Dumbstruck' 1996
- Short-listing of "Each Clear Night" WA Premiers Poetry Award 2000
- Patricia Hackett Prize for "Skins" in Westerly
- Shortlisting of "The Edge of the World" for the Commonwealth Writers Prize for First Book 2007
- Short-listing of "Therapy like Fish: new and selected poems" ACT Judith Wright Prize 2008
- Patricia Hackett Prize for "Sleep without Cameras" Westerly Dec 2010
- Long listing of "The Stubborn Murmur: The Armenian Genocide and After" in the Calibre Essay Prize 2010
- Australis Council Grant for Established Writers, New Work, Fiction, 2010–2011