Melissa Ashley
Melissa Ashley's first novel, The Birdman's Wife, was shortlisted for several awards and won the Queensland Premier’s Award/University of Queensland Fiction Award and the Australian Booksellers Association Booksellers' Choice Award. Since then she has also published The Bee and the Orange Tree and The Naturalist of Amsterdam. She has also published a collection of poetry, The Hospital for Dolls, as well as a range of short stories, essays and academic articles. She facilitates workshops and courses in fiction and poetry at universities and writers' centres. She lives in Brisbane with her family.