Dr Amy Matthews
Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing
College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Amy Matthews is an award-winning multi-published novelist and a scholar in the field of Creative Writing. She writes under the names Amy T. Matthews, Amy Barry, and Tess LeSue, in multiple genres, including literary fiction, book club fiction, historical fiction, romantic comedy, and historical romance. Amy was named John Howard Clark Scholar at the University of Adelaide, and is a recent Chair and longstanding boardmember of Writers SA; she is a judge of literary awards including the Adelaide Festival Awards and the MUD Club Prize for a debut novelist, and an affiliate of the JM Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice. Amy is a committee member for the Assemblage Centre for Creative Arts and Disicpline Lead of Creative Writing at Flinders University. Amy's scholarly interests include Holocaust fictions, Popular Romance Studies, historical fictions of the colonial frontier, and fictions of climate change/crisis. You can find more information on her creative work at amytmatthews.com and amy-barry.com.
PhD, Creative Writing (2007), University of Adelaide
First Class Honours, Creative Writing (2002), University of Adelaide
BA, Communications and Film & Electronic Media (1998), University of South Australia
BA, History and English (1995), University of Adelaide
CHASS Research Excellence Award for HDR Supervision (2021)
Chair, Writers SA (2017-2020)
Research Fellow (University of Adelaide, 2012-2015)
Dobbie Literary Award shortlist (2012)
Colin Roderick Literary Award shortlist (2012)
Title of John Howard Clark Scholar (University of Adelaide, 2011)
Adelaide Festival Unpublished Manuscript Award (2010)
Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Student Feedback in Teaching and Learning (University of Adelaide, 2009)
Anna Campbell Award (2009)
RWA STALI Award runner up (2009)
Australian/Vogel Literary Award longlist (2006)
Deputy Director, Assemblage Centre for Creative Arts
Supervisor, Creative Writing & Literary Studies (PhD, MA, Honours)
Topic Coordinator:
CRWR1001 Ideas: Imitation and Originality
CRWR2002 Love and Death
CRWR3100 Workshop: Stories and Submission
Amy's teaching interests include all forms of fiction (novels and short stories), with a particular focus on commercial genre fictions, including historical fiction, book club fiction, women's fiction, romance, romantic comedy, horror, and fictions of climate change/crisis. Amy is also an expert in the field of the Creative Arts/Creative Writing exegesis.
Peter Carey Short Story Award - JUN 2019
Speculate Prize shortlist - AUG 2021
William Van Dyke Short Story Prize - MAY 2021
Varuna Publisher Introduction Program - NOV 2017
Editor, MC Journal, 21:4 - JUN 2018
Editors, Westerly SA (special edition) - SEP 2018
- Amy is a founding committee member and now Deputy Director of the Assemblage Centre for Creative Arts, and a longstanding affiliate of the JM Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice. She is a recent past Chair of Writers SA, where she also served on the board for almost a decade. She is a judge of the Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature and has judged the MUD Club Prize for a debut novelist, the Romance Writers of America RITA Awards, and the Romance Writers of Australia RUBY Awards. Amy is an active member of writing communities in both literary and commercial fiction. In 2018 Amy inugurated the First Nations Commercial Fiction Fellowship in partnership with HarperCollins ANZ and Writers SA; the inaugural fellow, Angie Martin has since signed a two-book deal with HarperCollins, with the book she worked on during her Fellowship to be published in 2023.
- Creative Writing
- Holocaust Representation
- Romance
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