Biography

Dr Kate Forsyth is an award -winning author, poet, and storyteller.

Her most recent novel is The Crimson Thread, a
reimagining of ‘The Minotaur in the Labyrinth’
myth set in Crete during the Nazi invasion and
occupation of World War II.

Other historical novels include Beauty in Thorns, a reimagining of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ told in the voices
of four women of the Pre-Raphaelite circle of artists
and poets; The Wild Girl, the story of
the forbidden romance behind the Grimm brothers’ fairy tales which was named Most Memorable Love
Story of 2013; and Bitter Greens, a reinvention of ‘Rapunzel’ which won the 2015 American Library Association award for Best Historical Fiction.

Kate's Creative
Non-Fiction

Kate also writes creative non-fiction, including Searching for Charlotte: The Fascinating Story of Australia’s First Children’s Author, co-written by her sister Belinda Murrell, with the assistance of the Nancy Keesing Fellowship. It was longlisted for the 2021 Readings Non-Fiction Prize and the Indie Book Awards.

Her collection of essays, The Rebirth of Rapunzel: A Mythic Biography of the Maiden in the Tower won the Aurealis Convenors’ Award for Excellence in 2016 and the William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism in 2017.

Kate has written many essays and articles for publications
such as Womankind, Good Weekend, Spectrum, The Conversation, Griffith Review, Text Magazine, Meanjin, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Vogue, and Good Reading. Her essay ‘Books Are Dangerous’ was published in The Simple Act of Reading, edited by Debra Adelaide, and her article ‘Fuddling Up My Mucking Words Again’ was chosen for The Best Australian Essays 2013.

Kate’s Books for Children

Kate’s books for children include The Long-Lost Fairy-Tales Collection illustrated by Lorena Carrington. The first in the series, Vasilisa the Wise & Other Tales of Brave Young Women won a silver medal in the Fairies and Folklore category of the 2018 US Readers Favorite book awards.

Other children’s books include The Impossible Quest, shortlisted for the REAL Awards in 2017, and The Puzzle Ring, named an ‘Unsung Hero’ of 2009 by international bloggers.

Kate's Collaborative Projects

Kate is also working on Alchemy, a book of art & poetry in collaboration with the Archibald Prize winning artist Wendy Sharpe, which will be released in October 2022.

Other collaborations include The Silver Well, cowritten with Kim Wilkins, which received a starred review in Publishers’ Weekly & won the 2017 Aurealis Award for Best Collection. One of Kate’s stories, ‘The Cunning Woman’s Daughter’ also won the 2017 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novella.

The Witches of Eileanan

Kate’s first published books, The Witches of Eileanan, were inspired by a dream she had when she was only sixteen. Ten years later she began to
turn the dream into a story, which ended up as a series of nine books, totalling more than a million words. Twenty-five years later, inspirational quotes from The Witches of Eileanan are shared on the internet nearly every day.

Kate has a BA in literature, a MA in creative writing, and a Doctorate of Creative Arts in fairy tale studies, and is also an accredited master storyteller with the Australian Guild of Storytellers. She has taught writing retreats in Australia, Fiji, Greece, and the United Kingdom.