The Australian Women's Register

Brenda Niall was born in Melbourne in 1930 and was educated at Genezzano College, Kew. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Melbourne, followed by a Masters degree at the Australian National University (ANU). In 1964 she became a teaching fellow in the English Department at Monash University, and it was here she also gained her PhD. She became a Senior Lecturer in 1975 and a Reader in 1994.

Brenda undertook visiting fellowships to both Michigan and Yale Universities. She was a visiting Research Fellow at the American Council of Learned Societies in 1975 and Visiting Scholar, Humanities Research Centre at the Australian National University, in 1983 and 1987.

In 1995 Brenda retired from her position as Reader in English Literature at Monash University and began writing full time. Brenda has won numerous literary awards, including the Nettie Palmer Award for non-fiction in the Victorian Premier’s awards as well as the National Book Council (Banjo) Award in 1989. In 2016 her biography Mannix received the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal and the National Biography Prize. Brenda has also received a Centenary Medal (2001) and in 2004 she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)

In addition to her own writing, Brenda also frequently writes reviews for the Age, Sydney Morning Herald and Australian Book Review. She is also a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.