Tiffany, Carrie 1965-

PERSONAL:

Born 1965 in Yorkshire, Australia; partner's name Tim; children: Tess, Guy. Education: Attended University of Western Australia.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

CAREER:

Writer, agricultural journalist. Former park ranger, Uluru, Perth, Australia; Department of Natural Resources, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, agricultural writer; freelance agricultural writer, 1996—.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Victorian Premier's Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, Australian Book Review Short Fiction Award, and Orange Prize for Fiction shortlist, all for Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living.

WRITINGS:

Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living (novel), Scribner (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor of agricultural articles to periodicals, including Victorian Landcare.

SIDELIGHTS:

Carrie Tiffany was raised on the outskirts of Perth, Australia, where she spent her early twenties working as a park ranger at Uluru. She later moved to Melbourne where she began working as an agricultural journalist for the Department of Natural Resources. Her first novel, Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living, is the story of two agricultural scientists who meet on the government-run Better Farming Train in the 1930s. Tiffany had been doing research on the train when the idea for the story came to her. In an interview with Michelle Griffin for Age Online, Tiffany remarked: "I found some fantastic photos, … really enigmatic, that suggested all sorts of things outside the frame." The book has won a number of awards in Australia, including the Victorian Premier's Award for an Unpublished Manuscript and the Australian Book Review Short Fiction Award, and it was short-listed for the prestigious Orange Prize for Fiction for 2006. Lisa Schwarzbaum, in a review for Entertainment Weekly, called Tiffany "a marvelous observer, at times gently bawdy, aware of sights, sounds, smells, textures, and temperatures." A contributor for Publishers Weekly remarked: "Tiffany writes in a deceptively simple style, notable for its craft and heartbreaking clarity," and went on to call the book "a stunning debut." In a review for Booklist, contributor Joanne Wilkinson wrote: "Tiffany writes beautifully about the stark landscape and the even starker relationships between men and women," and a contributor for Kirkus Reviews concluded that "lapidary prose and keen historical feeling make it hard to believe this is a first novel."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 2006, Joanne Wilkinson, review of Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living, p. 58.

Entertainment Weekly, May 12, 2006, Lisa Schwarzbaum, "Cream of the Crop," review of Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living, p. 84.

Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2006, review of Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living, p. 206.

Publishers Weekly, January 2, 2006, review of Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living, p. 31.

ONLINE

ABC Online,http://www.abc.net.au/ (October 11, 2005), interview transcript.

Age Online,http://www.theage.com.au/ (August 7, 2005), Michelle Griffin, "Tiffany's Natural Order"; (August 13, 2005), Judith Armstrong, review of Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living.

Aussie Reviews Online,http://www.aussiereviews.com/ (November 12, 2006), Sally Murphy, review of Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living.

Blurb Online,http://www.theblurb.com.au/ (November 12, 2006), Virginia Harrison, review of Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living.

Book Browse Online,http://www.bookbrowse.com/ (November 12, 2006), author bio.

Simon Says.com,http://www.simonsays.com/ (November 12, 2006), author biography.