Dr Karen Lamb
Faculty of Education and Arts, School of Arts
Areas of expertise: Australian literature; life writing, biography; craft of writing
HDR Supervisor accreditation status: Provisional
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6863-2317
Phone: +61 (0)2 9701 4112
Email: karen.lamb@acu.edu.au
Location: ACU Strathfield Campus
Karen Lamb is the author of Thea Astley: Inventing Her Own Weather (UQP, 2015), shortlisted for five national literary awards, and joint-winner of the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award for Non-Fiction in 2016. She has written on the craft of biography, edited a book of Australian short stories, and published book chapters and articles on Australian authors, including a book on Peter Carey. She has given the Annual Lecture for Biography at the SLSW and the Annual Lecture in Australian Literature at University of Queensland. Karen’s teaching and research nexus is particularly strong, focusing on life writing and creative non-fiction as well as literary studies, and she has a background in varied professional roles in the arts (as a former Federal Speechwriter for the Arts), in publishing and over 20 years of literary journalism (the last ten of which for The Australian).
Select publications
Books
- Thea Astley: Inventing Her Own Weather, UQP, 2015
- Peter Carey: The Genesis of Fame, Angus & Robertson/HarperCollins, 1992
- Uneasy Truces (ed.) Penguin Books Pty Ltd, 1990
Book chapters
- “Will the Real Subject Please Stand Up? Autobiographical Voices in Biography, Life Writing”, Chapter 2, Essays in Life Writing, ed. Kylie Cardell, Routledge, 2021, pp. 25-30 (first published 30 Nov. 2021). [Originally published as Special Issue Life Writing 18:1, 2019. DOI: 10.1080/14484528.2019.1672615
- 'Bringing Australia Home: Peter Carey, the Booker and the Repatriation of Australian Culture’, Fabulating Beauty: Perspectives on the Fiction of Peter Carey. Andreas Gaile (ed.), Rodopi Cross-Cultures Series, Amsterdam/New York, 2005.
- 'Peter Carey', Routledge Encyclopaedia of Postcolonial Writing, Routledge, London, 2004.
- 'Peter Carey', Routledge Encyclopaedia of Commonwealth Writers, Routledge, London, 1999.
Journal articles
- “Transparent Virtue: Why biography ‘ticks the boxes’ of literary and academic culture” (accepted Life Writing, 11/04/2022)
- "Will the real subject please stand up? Autobiographical Voices in Biography. Life Writing. 2019, pp. 1-6.
- "The Biographer's Keeper (When the estate is with you): Writing the biography of Thea Astley". Life Writing. 15:2, 2018, pp. 1-6.
- "The Tale Finds its Teller". SL, State Library of NSW Magazine, Summer 2017-2018. 10: 4, pp. 22-25.
- “Thea Astley - Iconic Australian writer and reluctant feminist”, The Sydney Papers, 2016
- “Thea Astley’s brush with timely advice on the “rackety career of novel writing”, Southerly. 72:1, 2012.
- ‘Secret World of Lies’, Australian Literary Supplement. Vol. 2, Issue 11, Dec. 2007.
- “Carey’s Love Affair with Fakery”, Australian Book Review, Issue No. 280, April 2006.
Reviews of major scholarly work
- Review of Robert Dixon and Peter Kirkpatrick. Eds. Republics of Letters: Literary Communities Australia. Southerly. 72: 2, 2012.
- Review of The Fiction of Thea Astley by Susan Sheridan). The Journal of the European Association for Studies of Australia. 8: 1, 2017, pp. 59-60.
Projects
-
2014 Research Grant ($4, 582), Biography of Thea Astley, Australian Catholic University.
- 2010 International Travel Grant ($1,400) ACU, ‘Patrick White: Modernist Futures’, Conference, Kings College, University of London (ACU Grant) ($1,400)
Accolades and awards
- Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction (Joint Winner), Office of the Arts, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development & Communications 2016
- National Biography Award (Shortlisted), State Library of New South Wales, NSW Government 2016
- Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards (Non-fiction) (Shortlisted), Victorian Government 2016
- Australian Historical Association/Australian Society for Study of Australian Literature (AHA/ASAL) Magarey Medal (Shortlisted), Australian Historical Association/Australian Society for Study of Australian Literature 2016
- CHASS Australia Book Prize: The Australian prizes honour distinguished achievements by Australians working, studying, or training in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) sector, including academics, researchers, practitioners, philanthropists, policy makers, and students. (Longlisted), Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS) 2016
- Queensland Premier’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction (Shortlisted), Queensland Government 2015
Appointments and affiliations
- Senior Lecturer, English, (Level C), 2011-2022
Australian Catholic University (Sydney)
School of Arts (NSW), Faculty of Education & Arts
- Lecturer, Literature (Level B), 2005-2010
Australian Catholic University (Sydney)
- Lecturer, Media & Communications (Level B), 2001-2002
University of Melbourne
- Lecturer/tutor English and Media & Communications, 2002-2004
University of Melbourne
- Federal Ministerial Speechwriter, 2000-2001
Department of Communications, IT & the Arts (ACT)
- Senior Research Consultant, Monash University, 1994
Pro Vice-Chancellor's Review of Language & Learning
Professional affiliations
Association for the Study of Australian Literature (ASAL)
International Autobiography and Biography Association (IABA)
Biographers International Organisation (BIO)
State Library of New South Wales (SLNSW)
Monash Alumni Association
University of Queensland Alumni Association
Editorial roles
Published editor
Uneasy Truces (ed.) Penguin Books Pty Ltd, 1990.
Peer reviewer
Journals: Australia - Australian Literary Studies; international - Life Writing
Public engagement
Public lectures
2017 - The Annual Lecture in Biography, State Library of New South Wales
2016 – The Annual Lecture in Australian Literature, University of Queensland
Media/festivals/invited guest/speaker
2019 – Guest speaker. 'Celebrating Thea Astley'. Ashgrove Historical Society and Ashgrove Library. Attended by Hon. Trevor Evans MP, Member for Brisbane and Councillor Steve Toomey for the Gap Ward, Brisbane.
2017- Guest panellist and interviewee. Rose Scott Women Writers' Festival'. Interview with Dr Kate Evans (ABC Radio BooksPlus)
2017 – Guest author. Sydney Writers' Festival, NSW
2017 - VIP Guest. Quentin Bryce address State Parliament NSW.
2016 – Lecture. Sydney Institute, NSW
2016- Guest lecture. Oxford University, UK as a guest speaker at the Oxford Centre for Life Writing (OCLW). Guest speaker.
2016- Guest author-speaker and interview Sydney Writers' Festival 'No Pain, No Gain' Friday 22 May 4.30pm (ticked event sold out) & 'Behind the Public Eye'.
2015 – Guest author/interview Brisbane Writers' Festival Guest. ‘Masterclass’ in Memoir (ticketed) (Ref. Section 1. 4 Vison Statement on proposed ACU memoir course)
2015 – Author speech/VIP Guest, Inventing Her Own Weather. Byron Bay Library. Dir. Literature Board , Australia Council for the Arts (Dr Jill Eddington and author Matthew Condon)
2015 – Guest author-speaker, Leichardt Library, Sydney
Television. ABC News 24.
Guest. The segment was uploaded to the ABC website, making it accessible nationally and internationally.
Radio interviews
2016 - Interview on RN with Fran Kelly (morning after PM’s Award for Non-fiction)
2015 - Interview on ABC Radio National Books and Arts with Michael Cathart.
