Rebecca Giggs is an author and essayist. Her first book is Fathoms: The World in the Whale.
In the US Fathoms was awarded the prestigious 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. The book also listed as a finalist in the Kirkus Prize and the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. In Australia, Fathoms won the 2020 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Prize for Literature, and the Royal Zoological Society's Whitley Award for Popular Zoology. Fathoms was additionally shortlisted for the 2021 Stella Prize — Australia's premier literary award for writing by women and non-binary authors — and the Western Australian Premier's Prize for an Emerging Writer.
Rebecca's nonfiction essays have been shortlisted for the Australian Book Review Calibre Prize and the Woollahra Digital Literary Award; a number of these works are currently taught in universities around Australia. Rebecca's writing has been translated into Korean, Italian, Slovakian, Spanish, Finnish and Norwegian. Rebecca has been a recipient of writing fellowships hosted by organisations including the Rachel Carson Centre for Environment and Society (Munich); the Mick Dark Residency at Varuna, the National Writing House (New South Wales); and the AsiaLink Foundation (Tokyo and Kyoto). She lives in Australia.
MEDIA BIO
Image Credit: Leanne Dixon, 2020
EVENTS
2021
'Fathoms' AWARDED the ALA 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction [to see the prize-winners ceremony, 24 June, register online here]
'Fathoms' short-listed for the 2021 Stella Prize
'Fathoms' short-listed for the 2021 WA Premier's Prize for an Emerging Writer
'Fathoms' a finalist for the 2021 PEN / E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award
'Fathoms' long-listed for the 2021 Wainwright Prize for Writing on Global Conservation
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22 July; Exile in Bookville 'Authors on Tap' talk, in conversation with Donna Seaman [online]
June — July Writing Creative Nonfiction Stage II: The Book Proposal [online $] Faber Writing Academy
2020
'Fathoms' AWARDED the 2020 Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award, for excellence in research and nonfiction writing
'Fathoms' AWARDED the 2020 Royal Zoological Society's Whitley Award for Popular Zoology
'Fathoms' a finalist for the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction
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Past Events
15/16 July; Virginia Festival of the Book 'Shelf Life' talk, in conversation with Nick Pyenson
19 May; Moonee Valley Library Author-Talk
19 May; Oliver Wolcott Library (CT) Author-Talk
March — May 2021; Writing Creative Nonfiction Stage I Faber Writing Academy
27 April 2021; 'Nature Writing Workshop' at the Sydney Writers' Festival
30 April 2021; 'Your Favourites’ Favourites,' in conversation with Nam Le at the Sydney Writers' Festival
30 April 2021; 'Iconic Duos: The Next Chapter Writers and Mentors' at the Sydney Writers' Festival
02 May 2021; 'Land of Plenty' with Bruce Pascoe, Victor Steffensen and Richard Beasley at the Sydney Writers' Festival
31 March 2021; 'Melbourne Reads' with Melbourne Writers' Festival & the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne
06 March 2021; Nature Writing Workshop; WritingSA
22 February 2021; Talk for World Whale Day; Yukon Arts Centre
21 February 2021; Perth Literature Weekend, in conversation with Chris Flynn
20 February 2021; Perth Literature Weekend, in conversation with Mike Bianco
02 December 2020; Glen Eira Libraries Talk
01 December 2020; National Maritime Museum (UK) Talk
24 November 2020; Wollongong Writers' Festival, in conversation with Laura Jean McKay
23 November 2020; 'Greenhouse' talk for the environmental humanities research group at the University of Stavanger, Norway
22 November 2020; 'Word for Word' National Nonfiction Festival — Panel Conversation with Nib Award Finalists
24 September 2020; B List Bookclub with the State Library of NSW, Hosted by Bri Lee.
11 September 2020; Write Around the Murray, in conversation with James Bradley.
07 August 2020; Point Reyes Books, in conversation with Robert Moor.
06 July 2020; Avid Reader, in conversation with Angela Dean.
01 July 2020; The Wheeler Centre, 'Fathoms: a Digital Scavenger Hunt.'
Press Mentions & Interviews
Podcasts & TV
Media Photos
