Carmel Bird is a writer of both fiction and non-fiction. Her first collection of short stories appeared in 1976, and since then she has published novels, essays, anthologies and children's books.

In 2016 Carmel won the Patrick White Award (an annual award for an outstanding Australian writer with a substantial body of work) for her novel Family Skeleton. Three of her previous works were shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award (The Bluebird Cafe in 1991, The White Garden in 1996 and Red Shoes in 1998).

Carmel taught fiction at a host of Victorian Universities, including Melbourne, Deakin, Latrobe, Monash, Swinburne and RMIT. She has also published three manuals on how to write - Dear Writer (1988), Writing the Story of Your Life (2007) and Dear Writer Revisited (2013).

About The Garret

The Garret is committed to accessibility and education. The transcript and interactive show notes of Carmel's interview are available at www.thegarretpodcast.com/carmel-bird.