Ursula Dubosarsky

Ursula Dubosarskyyy (born Ursula Coleman; 1961 in Sydney) 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. 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. She was appointed the Australian Children's Laureate for 2020–2021.
She is the author of over 61 illustrated books and novels, which have been translated into 14 languages. She has also written three non-fiction "Word Spy" books for children, illustrated by Tohby Riddle, about language, grammar and etymology. 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. In the United States and Canada The Word Spy is published under the title The Word Snoop.
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.
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 and her book Too Many Elephants In this House, illustrated by Andrew Joyner, was chosen for the National Simultaneous Storytime. In 2018 the National Library of Australia published Midnight at the Library, illustrated by Ron Brooks, to celebrate the Library's 50-year anniversary. In 2019 a study room at Marrickville Library was named in honour of her novel The Blue Cat.
Three of her books have been adapted for theatre: The Red Shoe, The Terrible Plop and Too Many Elephants in This House.
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 and has taught courses in children's literature at Sydney University and the University of Technology, Sydney. She is a currently a member of the Library Council of New South Wales.
Awards
International
Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Nominee 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 2023.
Hans Christian Andersen Award Nominee 2015
Luchs (Lynx ) Award for Children's Literature July 2012 for The Golden Day (in German Nicht Jetz, niemals)
International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Honour Book List 2014 for The Golden Day
YALSA (Division of the American Library Association) Excellence in Non-fiction for Young Adults Nominee 2010 for Word Snoop
International Youth Library White Ravens 1996 for The First Book of Samuel; 2007 for The Red Shoe; and 2019 for Midnight at the Library.
Australian
2020–2021 – Australian Children's Laureate
2013 – Inducted into Speech Pathology Australia's Hall of Fame for her contribution to children's literature
2011 – Children's Book of the Year Award: Eve Pownall Award for Information Books for The Return of the Word Spy with illustrator Tohby Riddle
2009 – New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, Patricia Wrightson Prize for Young People's Literature for The Word Spy with illustrator Tohby Riddle
2009 – Junior Judges Project, Children's Book Council of Australia, Winner for The Word Spy with illustrator Tohby Riddle
2009 – Kids Own Australian Literature Award (KOALA), Picture Book Winner for Rex with illustrator David Mackintosh
2007 – New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature for The Red Shoe
2006 – Queensland Premier's Literary Award, Young Adult Book Award for The Red Shoe
2006 – New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature for Theodora's Gift
2006 – Victorian Premier's Literary Award, Prize for Young Adult Literature for Theodora's Gift
2001 – Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, Award for Children's Literature for Abyssinia
1995 – New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, Ethnic Affairs Commission Award for The First Book of Samuel
1994 – New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, Ethel Turner Prize for Children's literature for The White Guinea Pig
1994 – Victorian Premier's Literary Award, Alan Garner Prize for Children's Literature for The White Guinea Pig
Theatrical productions
Too Many Elephants in This House at NIDA, the National Institute of Dramatic Art.
The Red Shoe at the Jigsaw Theatre.
Plop!, a musical version of The Terrible Plop at the Windmill Theatre in Adelaide, Brisbane and Canberra, Sydney, regional Victoria, Queensland and Darwin and the New Victory Theater in New York.
Bibliography
Maisie and the Pinny Gig (1989) illustrated by Roberta Landers
High Hopes (1990)
Zizzy Zing (1991)
The Last Week in December (1993)
The White Guinea-Pig (1994)
The First Book of Samuel (1995)
Bruno and Crumhorn (1996)
Black Sails, White Sails (1997)
The Strange Adventures of Isador Brown (1998) illustrated by Paty Marshall-Stace
My Father Is Not a Comedian! (1999)
Honey and Bear (1999) illustrated by Ron Brooks
The Even Stranger Adventures of Isador Brown (2000) illustrated by Paty Marshall-Stace
The Game of the Goose (2000) illustrated by John Winch
The Two Gorillas (2000) illustrated by Mitch Vane
Fairy Bread (2001) illustrated by Mitch Vane
Abyssinia (2001)
The Magic Wand (2002) illustrated by Mitch Vane
Special Days with Honey and Bear (2002) illustrated by Ron Brooks
Isador Brown's Strangest Adventures of All (2003) illustrated by Mitch Vane
How To Be a Great Detective (2004)
Rex (2005) illustrated by David Mackintosh
Theodora's Gift (2005)
The Puppet Show (2006) illustrated by Mitch Vane
The Red Shoe (2006)
The Word Spy (2008) illustrated by Tohby Riddle Published in the United States as The Word Snoop (2009)
Jerry (2008) illustrated by Patricia Mullins
Tibby's Leaf (2009) illustrated by Peter Bray
The Terrible Plop (2009) illustrated by Andrew Joyner
The Cubby House (2009) illustrated by Mitch Vane
The Deep End (2010) illustrated by Mitch Vane
The Return of the Word Spy (2010) illustrated by Tohby Riddle
The Honey and Bear Stories (2010) illustrated by Ron Brooks
Free: Stories about Human Rights (2010) (contributor) Amnesty International/Walker Books UK
The Golden Day (2011)
The Carousel (2011) illustrated by Walter di Qual
The Word Spy Activity Book (2012) illustrated by Tohby Riddle
Too Many Elephants in This House (2012) illustrated by Andrew Joyner
The Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno and Alberta: The Perplexing Pineapple (2013) illustrated by Terry Denton
The Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno and Alberta: The Looming Lamplight (2013) illustrated by Terry Denton
The Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno and Alberta: The Missing Mongoose (2013) illustrated by Terry Denton
Violet Vanishes (2013) illustrated by Annie White
Rory Rides (2013) illustrated by Annie White
Ethan Eats (2013) illustrated by Annie White
Ava Adds (2013) illustrated by Annie White
Introduction to Lillypilly Hill (2013) Eleanor Spence Text Classics
The Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno and Alberta: The Dismal Daffodil (2014) illustrated by Terry Denton
The Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno and Alberta: The Quivering Quavers (2014) illustrated by Terry Denton
The Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno and Alberta: The Talkative Tombstone (2014) illustrated by Terry Denton
Two Tales of Twins from Ancient Greece and Rome (2014) illustrated by David Allan
The Great War: Stories inspired by objects from the First World War (2014) (contributor) Walker Books UK
Tim and Ed (2014) illustrated by Andrew Joyner
Reindeer's Christmas Surprise (2014) illustrated by Sue de Gennaro
One Little Goat (2017) illustrated by Andrew Joyner
The Blue Cat (2017)
Brindabella (2018) illustrated by Andrew Joyner
Leaf Stone Beetle (2018) illustrated by Gaye Chapman
Midnight at the Library (2018) illustrated by Ron Brooks
The Boy Who Could Fly and other magical plays for children (2019) illustrated by Amy Golbach
Ask Hercules Quick (2019) illustrated by Andrew Joyner
Pierre's Not There (2020) illustrated by Christopher Nielsen
The March of the Ants (2021) illustrated by Tohby Riddle
The Magnificent Hercules Quick (2021) illustrated by Andrew Joyner
Mary and Marcus and the Crazy Dance (2022) illustrated by Andrew Joyner
Hercules Quick's Big Bag of Tricks (2023) illustrated by Andrew Joyner
Critical studies, reference books
The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature (2015) edited by Daniel Hahn
1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up (2009) edited by Julia Eccleshore Cassell Illustrated
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature (2006) edited by Jack Zipes
The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English (2001) edited by Victor Watson
The Oxford Companion to Australian Children's Literature (1993) edited by Stella Lees and Pam Macintyre
The Golden Day
Bradford, Clare (2014) "The Red Shoe" Copyright Agency Reading Australia https://readingaustralia.com.au/essays/the-red-shoe/
Hale, Elizabeth (2021) "Mystery, Childhood, and Meaning in Ursula Dubosarsky's The Golden Day" in Our Mythical Hope: The Ancient Myths as Medicine for the Hardships of Life in Children's and Young Adults' Culture University of Warsaw Press pp. 451-469 https://rune.une.edu.au/web/handle/1959.11/54660
Hateley, Erica (2009) "Puck vs. Hermia: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Gender, and Sexuality," in Shakespeare in Children's Literature: Gender and Cultural Capital New York: Routledge Chapter 4 (on How to Be a Great Detective)
Holden, Kate (2021) "Ursula Dubosarsky" The Saturday Paper March 13-19 https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/culture/books/2021/03/13/ursula-dubosarsky/161555400011259#hrd
Lavi, Tali (2018) "Know the Author: Ursula Dubosarsky" Magpies vol 33 pp 4-6
Pennell, Beverley (2003) "Leaving the Men to Drown?" in Fin de Siecle: Reconfigurations of Masculinity in Children's Fiction Roderick McGillis Praeger International Research Society for Children's Literature Chapter 19 (on Bruno and the Crumhorn)
Stephens, John (2003) "Always Facing the Issues--Preoccupations in Australian Children's Literature" The Lion and the Unicorn 27(2) Johns Hopkins University Press
References
External links
Official Website
Profile at publisher Allen and Unwin
Profile at publisher Penguin Books Australia
The Golden Day
1961 births
Living people
Australian women novelists
Australian children's writers
University of Sydney alumni
20th-century Australian novelists
20th-century Australian women writers
People educated at Sydney Church of England Girls Grammar School
Writers from Sydney