Thea Astley, novelist and short story writer, was born in Brisbane on 25 August 1925 and educated at All Hallows Convent and the University of Queensland, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1947. She was a school teacher in Queensland from 1944 to 1948 and in New South Wales from 1948 to 1967. In 1968 she joined the English Department at Macquarie University, Sydney. She retired as Fellow in English, Macquarie University in 1979. She has won numerous awards, including the Miles Franklin Award four times: in 1962 (The Well Dressed Explorer), 1965 (Slow Natives), 1972 (The Acolyte) and 2000 (Drylands). She received the Order of Australia in 1992, and an Hon D. Litt was conferred on her by University of Queensland in 1988. She was made a Creative Fellow of the Australia Council in 1993.