Nicolette Stasko

Who is Nicolette Stasko?

Nicolette Stasko is a contemporary Australian poet, novelist and non-fiction writer of United States origin.

Nicolette Stasko was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania to Polish and Hungarian parents. She completed a BA with honours in English at Pennsylvania State University and an MA in education at Lehigh University then taught in special education. Marrying an Australian in 1978 she travelled in Europe and Asia settling in Perth, Western Australia where she taught at Perth Modern School. She separated from her husband, meeting the writer David Brooks with whom she has a daughter. In 1986 they moved to Brisbane where she taught and edited The Phoenix Review. During this period she began writing in earnest and had her first poetry published in Australia in the journal Hecate.

Stasko's first collection of poems, Abundance, won the 1993 Anne Elder Award and she has since published several collections to widespread critical acclaim. She has also published a non-fiction book entitled Oyster: From Montparnasse to Greenwell Point and most recently the novel The Invention of Everyday Life.