Robert Drewe

Robert Duncan Drewe (born 9 January 1943) is an Australian novelist, non-fiction and short story writer.

Biography Robert Drewe was born on 9 January 1943 in Melbourne, Victoria. At the age of six, he moved with his family to Perth. He grew up on the West Australian coast and was educated at Hale School.

He joined The West Australian as a cadet reporter. Three years later he was recruited by The Age, where he became Sydney chief at the age of 21, later Literary Editor of The Australian. He was a columnist, features editor and special writer on The Australian and The Bulletin. He was awarded a Leader Grant travel scholarship by the United States Government.

During the 1970s he turned from journalism to writing fiction, and an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Western Australia.

In 2019 Drewe won the Colin Roderick Award for his book The True Colour of the Sea. The True Colour of the Sea was shortlisted for the 2019 University of Southern Queensland Steele Rudd Award for a Short Story Collection at the Queensland Literary Awards.

Personal life Drewe has six children from three marriages. (A son died in 2019.) He and his wife Tracy divide their time between the New South Wales north coast and North Fremantle, Western Australia.