About the author
Jane Gleeson-White has worked as an editor, writer and reviewer in Sydney and London since completing her degrees in English and Australian literature, and economics, at the University of Sydney in 1987. She also worked as a student at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice, where she studied Byzantine, early Renaissance and modern art. Her first book, Classics, was published in 2005.
About Jane
"I grew up in Sydney, around Nielsen Park and Bondi Beach, and decided to become a writer when I was ten. I have always been an obsessive reader and as a child was either roaming the neighbourhood or hiding out on the top shelf of my cupboard reading a book by torch or candlelight.
"After school and a three-month sojourn in Paris at seventeen, I studied French, English and Australian literature at the University of Sydney. When I graduated I was invited to apply for a Studentship at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice, where I spent three months working at the Museum with American, English and European students of literature and art (including the director Sam Mendes).
"I returned to Sydney University to study economics and government, and graduated with a Bachelor of Economics. Back in Australia I worked as a journalist for a trade magazine, writing about the pulp and paper industry in the Asia Pacific region. In the mid 1990s I worked for Hickson Associates as a literary agent and then at Allen & Unwin as assistant to Trade Publisher Sophie Cunningham and Business Publisher Josh Dowse. There I administered The Australian/Vogel Award and also did some proofreading and editing. In 1997 I went freelance as an editor, and since then I have been editing books (mostly fiction by authors like Malcolm Knox, Christos Tsiolkas, Charlotte Wood, Luke Davies and Annamarie Jagose); reviewing books (for Good Reading magazine and the Sydney Morning Herald); and reading and talking about books.
"My first book, Classics: Books for Life was published in 2005. It is a guide to the Western literary narrative tradition covering 62 works by authors from Homer to Salman Rushdie. In 2007 it is being published in Brazil and South Korea."
Why I wrote Australian Classics
"I was looking for a present for a book-loving acquaintance who had recently moved to Sydney from Paris, and found myself wishing that you could buy a book on ‘Australian literature’ generally as you can buy books on ‘Australian painting’. I wanted to introduce her to Australian literature overall, not knowing her well enough to select one book by a single author.
"At the time I was in the midst of publicity for Classics, and I suddenly realised that the book in my head about Australian literature would fall easily into the same format and style as Classics, except it would be Australian Classics. The moment I realised this, I could see the whole thing: my new book on Australian writing would include chapters on 50 poetry, fiction and non-fiction titles.
"I became very excited as it became clear to me that by putting together introductions to a selection of Australia’s greatest books in chronological order in one book, Australian Classics would not only be an accessible companion to Australian literature, but it would also tell a story of writing in Australia since the nineteenth century."