Susan Geason

Susan Dorothy Geason (born 1946) is an Australian writer of fiction and non-fiction for adults and teenagers.

Biography

Born in New Norfolk, Tasmania, to Urban James and Joan Susan (née Oakford) Geason, she grew up in Queensland and graduated from the University of Queensland with a BA in History and Politics.

Geason emigrated to Canada in 1970. After working as a librarian at the Toronto Institute of Technology, she was hired as administrative assistant for the Association of Part-time Students (APUS) at the University. At APUS she organised the first Ontario Conference on Women in Education and the first conference of executives of part-time student organisations in Canada. She also advocated for part-time students and represented APUS on university committees.

She also completed a Masters Qualifying and received two university scholarships to complete a Masters in Political Philosophy and begin a PhD. University of Toronto.

During 1974-76, Geason was a Junior Fellow at Massey College in the University of Toronto, during which she completed course work for Comparative Public Administration as a second teaching option, a requirement for a PhD, and worked as a teaching assistant for undergraduate political philosophy students. She also carried out two three-month research projects for the Ontario Government's Women's Bureau.

On returning to Australia in 1976, she was a research assistant for the Teachers Registration Board in Brisbane before being chosen for the Commonwealth Government's Assistant Research Officer Program. After a reluctant stint in the Defence Department, she became a legislative researcher in the Parliamentary Library, Canberra, in 1978-80.

From 1980 to 1981 was education editor of The National Times.

From March 1982 to 1985 Geason was a policy officer in the Cabinet Office of the NSW Premier's Department.

From 1985 to 1987, she was head of Information and Publications with the NSW State Pollution Control Commission.

From 1991 to 1997, Geason was literary editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.

Since 1987, she has worked as a freelance writer, editor and communications consultant, writing and editing reports and speeches for government and business clients.

The State Library of New South Wales holds the Susan Geason papers, 1989-2001, relating to the books she was writing at that time and comprising correspondence, draft manuscripts, interview notes, book plans, news clippings, research and photographs.

Geason was awarded a PhD in creative writing by the School of English, Media Studies and Art History at the University of Queensland in 2005 for her thesis, "Under the Canopy of Heaven : Charlotte Brontë and Mary Taylor; What Mary Knew : The Relationship Between Mary Taylor and Charlotte Brontë". It was published as What Mary Knew : Mary Taylor and Charlotte Brontë in 2011.

Publications

Adult fiction

• Shaved Fish, Allen & Unwin, 1990,
• Wildfire, Arrow Books/Random House, 1995,

Crime fiction

• Dogfish: A Syd Fish thriller, Allen & Unwin, 1991,
• Sharkbait: A Syd Fish mystery, Allen & Unwin, 1993,

Teenage fiction and non-fiction

• Great Australian Girls and the Remarkable Women They Became, ABC Books, 1999,
• Australian Heroines: Stories of Courage and Survival, ABC Books, 2001,
• Death of a Princess, Little Hare Books, 2005, ; Ashton Scholastic, NY, 2006.
• Rebel Girl: A Tale of Friendship and Survival in Taiping China, ABC Books, 2007,
• All Fall Down, Little Hare Books, 2005, ; Large print edition ReadHowYouWant, 2008
• Flight of the Falcon, Little Hare Books, 2006, ; Large print edition ReadHowYouWant, 2009

Non-Fiction

• Regarding Jane Eyre, (editor and contributor), Random House, 1997,
• Pitt Water People : The Ivers, Young, Gould, Cashman and Lahey Families in Tasmania, Susan Geason, 2010,
• What Mary Knew : Mary Taylor & Charlotte Brontë, Susan Geason, 2011,
• People of the Plains: The Young, Gould, Cashman, Lahey, Geason and Beven Families in Tasmania, Susan Geason, 2nd ed., 2011,
• River Folk: The Latham, Griggs, Corbett, Oakford, Darcy and O'Connor Families in Tasmania, Susan Geason, 2nd ed., 2011,
• A Long Way from Tipperary: The Geason, Beven, Evans and Lynch Families in Tasmania, Susan Geason, 2nd ed., 2011,

Stories in anthologies and magazines

• An Old Husband's Tale in More Crimes for a Summer Christmas, ed. Stephen Knight, Allen & Unwin, 1991,
• Aint Misbehavin' in Killing Women: Rewriting Detective Fiction (essays on feminism and the PI genre), ed. Delys Bird, Angus & Robertson, 1993,
• Conflict of Interest in Moonlight Becomes You: Crimes for Summer 6, ed. Jean Bedford, Allen & Unwin, 1995,
• Sybilla of the Fires in Overland Vol. 138, Autumn 1995
• Totally Devoted in Shadow Alley (crime for teenagers), compiled by Lucy Sussex, Omnibus Books, 1995,
• Green Murder in Women on the Case, ed. Sara Paretsky, Delacorte, 1996, ; & Virago, 1996,
• Geason has had stories published in Australian Penthouse, Billy Blue Magazine, The Sun-Herald, Tages Anzeiger (Zurich), Australasian Post

Radio plays

• Fish Tales, radio adaptation of Shaved Fish, ABC Audio Crime Fiction Series,

Crime prevention

• Crime Prevention: Theory and Practice, (Paul R. Wilson, co-author), Australian Institute of Criminology, 1988,
• Designing Out Crime: Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, (Paul R. Wilson, co-author), Australian Institute of Criminology, 1989,
• Preventing Car Theft and Crime in Car Parks, (Paul R. Wilson, co-author), Australian Institute of Criminology, 1990,
• Preventing Graffiti and Vandalism, (Paul R. Wilson, co-author), Australian Institute of Criminology, 1990,
• Preventing Retail Crime, (Paul R. Wilson, co-author), Australian Institute of Criminology, 1992,

Translations

• Fish im Truben, (Shaved Fish) Haffman's Verlag, Munich, 1994.
• Fish for die Hunde, (Dogfish) Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich, 1997.
• Buschfeuer, (Wildfire) Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich, 1998.
• Haifuschfutter, (Sharkbait) Haffman's Verlag, Zurich, 1999.
• Dogfish: Eaux troubles a Sydney", L'Aube Noire, editions de l'Aube, La Tour d'Aigues, 1996.
• La morsure du requin (Sharkbait, L'Aube Noire, 1993.
• La Ville en Flammes, (Wildfire) Editions de l'Aube, La Tour d'Aigues, 2001.
• Parfum d'Isis, (Death of a Princess) Rageot, Paris, 2008.
• Haremske spletke, (Death of a Princess) Aurora, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2010.
• Sokolov Let, (Flight of the Falcon) Aurora, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2009.

External links

• Author's website