Doctorate of Creative Arts, 2005
Kate Grenville's bestselling novel The Secret River earned her a Commonwealth Prize for Literature and a short-listing for the Man Booker Prize, and a version of it was the thesis for her Doctorate of Creative Arts, 2005.
The story of a convict family who settled on the Hawkesbury River early in the 19th century, it explores the conflict between colonial settlers and Indigenous people. It won many other prizes including the NSW Premier's Literary Award.
She has 12 books to her name: eight novels and four books about the writing process, including a memoir about the research and writing of The Secret River (Searching for The Secret River). Her work has been published all over the world, and The Idea Of Perfection (2000) won Britain's Orange Prize.
Grenville's most recent novel is The Lieutenant, inspired by the Gadigal notebooks of First Fleeter William Dawes.