Author: Deb

Deborah Wardle has fiction and non-fiction stories published by Spinifex Press, Meanjin, Overland, The Big Issue, Castlemaine Independent and Palliative Care Australia’s online journal E-Hospice. She has peer-reviewed articles in Australian and international journals including Meniscus, Mosaic (Canada), Fusion, and Animal Studies Journal. Her short story, ‘Love Letters’ was first shortlisted for the Josephine Ulrick Prize in 2016, and longlisted in the Peter Carey Short Story Prize. Deborah teaches literature at RMIT and Creative Writing at University of Melbourne. Her PhD thesis explores the ways climate fiction expresses groundwater’s potency and vulnerability in Australian narratives.
Groundwater Essay in Meanjin

Groundwater Essay in Meanjin

I am delighted to have a memoir type essay about a journey to the Mound Springs of South Australia published in the Winter 2023 edition of Meanjin (Vol 82, No. 2). Titled “Groundwater”, the piece recounts a road trip to Dalhousie Springs, a warm spring fed pool near the Northern Territory Border. The opening sentences …

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Subterranean Imaginaries and Groundwater Narratives – Released in October 2023

Subterranean Imaginaries and Groundwater Narratives – Released in October 2023

Please check out my new book Subterranean Imaginaries and Groundwater Narratives published by Routledge Environmental Humanities series in October 2023. https://www.routledge.com/Subterranean-Imaginaries-and-Groundwater-Narratives/Wardle/p/book/9781032218816 This book interrogates the problems of how and why largely unseen matter, in this case groundwater, has found limited expression in climate fiction. It explores key considerations for writing groundwater narratives in the Anthropocene. The book …

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A to Z of Creative Writing Methods

A to Z of Creative Writing Methods

Along with the five other editors, I am delighted to announce and recommend the newly released book for creative writing scholars and practitioners. 2022   A to Z of Creative Writing Methods. Editors: Deborah Wardle, Julienne Van Loon, Stacey Taylor, Francesca Rendell-Short, Peta Murray and David Carlin. Published by Bloomsbury (London). This is an outstanding collection of …

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Longlist in the Peter Carey Short Story Prize

Longlist in the Peter Carey Short Story Prize

I have further developed the story ‘Love Letters’. It’s been longlisted for the Peter Carey Short Story Prize. Finding a way to show how love begets love is a wonderful challenge.

‘Beneath Our Feet’ shortlisted for Nature Writing Prize – 2019

‘Beneath Our Feet’ shortlisted for Nature Writing Prize – 2019

My essay, ‘Beneath Our Feet’ was shortlisted for the Australian Nature Conservancy – Nature Writing Prize (supported by the Griffith Review). The judges, Delia Falconer and Tom Griffiths, reported that the essay evocatively engaged with the science of groundwater alongside a cultural narrative of groundwater’s vulnerability.

Dr Deb

Dr Deb

I am delighted to have completed my PhD at RMIT with wonderfully encouraging examiners’ reports. Both examiners commended the thorough nature and the timely relevance of the research and encouraged me to pursue publication. I will present excerpts of my dissertation to scholarly journals for publication. Work on re-writing the novel for publication is in …

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Three Akneegoes

Three Akneegoes

I am delighted that Meanjin has accepted my story, ‘The Three Akneegoes’ for their site, Spike. The Three Akneegoes

Latest Update

Latest Update

Deborah’s short story ‘Love Letters’ was shortlisted in the Josephine Ulrick Prize in 2016.