Ursula Dubosarsky (born Ursula Coleman; 1961 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian writer of fiction and non-fiction for children and young adults, whose work is characterised by a child's vision and comic voice of both clarity and ambiguity.[1] She has won nine national literary prizes, including five New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, more than any other writer in the Awards' 30-year history.[2] She was appointed the Australian Children's Laureate for 2020–2021.[3]
She is the author of over 61 illustrated books and novels, which have been translated into 14 languages.[4] She has also written three non-fiction "Word Spy" books for children, illustrated by Tohby Riddle, about language, grammar and etymology.[5][6] These books have won the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award and the Junior Judges' Award.[7] In the United States and Canada The Word Spy is published under the title The Word Snoop.[8]
Her novel The Red Shoe is included in 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up and is one of 200 significant works of Australian literature in the Copyright Agency's Reading Australia program.[9] In 2014, the annual Christmas Windows of the department store David Jones were based on her story Reindeer's Christmas Surprise, illustrated by Sue deGennaro[10][11] and her book Too Many Elephants In this House, illustrated by Andrew Joyner, was chosen for the National Simultaneous Storytime.[12] In 2018 the National Library of Australia published Midnight at the Library, illustrated by Ron Brooks, to celebrate the Library's 50-year anniversary.[13] In 2019 a study room at Marrickville Library was named in honour of her novel The Blue Cat.[14]
Three of her books have been adapted for theatre: The Red Shoe,[15] The Terrible Plop[16] and Too Many Elephants in This House.[17] She has collaborated on many books and projects with illustrator Andrew Joyner, as well as with Tohby Riddle.
She is the third child of Peter Coleman and Verna Susannah Coleman. She was named after the character of Ursula Brangwen in the 1915 novel The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence. She attended Lindfield, Hunter's Hill and Chatswood Primary Schools, SCEGGS Darlinghurst, then studied at Sydney University and later Macquarie University. She is an Honorary Associate in the Department of English at Macquarie University[18] and has taught courses in children's literature at Sydney University and the University of Technology, Sydney.[19] She is a currently a member of the Library Council of New South Wales.[20]
International
Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Nominee 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020,[21][22] 2021, 2022[23] 2023, 2024.[24]
Hans Christian Andersen Award Nominee 2015[25]
Luchs (Lynx ) Award for Children's Literature July 2012 for The Golden Day (in German Nicht Jetz, niemals)[26]
International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Honour Book List 2014 for The Golden Day[27]
YALSA (Division of the American Library Association) Excellence in Non-fiction for Young Adults Nominee 2010 for Word Snoop[28]
International Youth Library White Ravens 1996 for The First Book of Samuel; 2007 for The Red Shoe;[29] and 2019 for Midnight at the Library.[30]
Australian
