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Janette Turner Hospital

b. 1942

Contemporary Australian writer and academic

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About Janette Turner Hospital

Born 1942. Janette Turner Hospital is an Australian writer and novelist.

Janette Turner Hospital (née Turner) (born 1942) is an Australian-born novelist and short story writer who has lived most of her adult life in Canada or the United States, principally Boston, Massachusetts, Kingston, Ontario.and Columbia, South Carolina. She also uses the penname "Alex Juniper".

Early life and education Turner was born in Melbourne, Australia, on 12 November 1942

Career

Turner Hospital published her first story in Atlantic Monthly in 1978, and her first novel, The Ivory Swing, in 1982.

She also teaches literature and creative writing and has been writer-in-residence at universities in Australia, Canada, England and the United States (MIT, Boston University, Colgate University and the University of South Carolina).

She visited the Writer-in-Residence in the MFA program at Columbia University in 2010.

She has published six novels as well as three story collections. Her 2003 novel Due Preparations for the Plague received the Queensland Premier's Award for Fiction.

Her books, such as Oyster and Due Preparations for the Plague, are published in multiple translations.

She is known for her penchant for beginning books with intricate riddles, continuing this pattern with her 2014 novel The Claimant, which delves into the complexities of identity, class, and morality against the backdrop of a wealthy Vanderbilt family's fortune.

Honours and awards Turner Hospital was awarded an honorary D.Litt. from the University of Queensland, Australia, for "services to Australian Literature". She has won a number of international literary awards, The Claimant (2014)

Short story collections Dislocations (1986) Isobars (1990) Collected Stories (1995) North of Nowhere, South of Loss (2003)

Selected articles

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Important facts

Birth century
Occupation
Nationality
Education
Queen's University, University of Queensland
Employers
Columbia University, Boston University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of South Carolina
Awards
Patrick White Award

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Janette Turner Hospital's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Janette Turner Hospital?

Contemporary Australian writer and academic

When was Janette Turner Hospital born?

Janette Turner Hospital was born on 12 November 1942 in Melbourne.

What is Janette Turner Hospital's occupation?

Janette Turner Hospital is a writer and novelist.

What nationality is Janette Turner Hospital?

Janette Turner Hospital is Australian.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Janette Turner Hospital

· Wikidata: Q6153713

· DBpedia: Janette Turner Hospital

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Janette Turner Hospital. https://biography.guide/janette-turner-hospital/

MLA: "Janette Turner Hospital." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/janette-turner-hospital/.

Chicago: "Janette Turner Hospital." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/janette-turner-hospital/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

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