Biography
Deborah Pike is an Australian writer and academic based in Sydney.
Her debut novel, The Players, was released on April 3, 2024. Deborah is also is author of The Subversive Art of Zelda Fitzgerald which was shortlisted for the AUHE literary criticism award, and co-editor of academic books, On Happiness: New Ideas for the Twenty-first Century and Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Play from Birth to Beyond.
Deborah grew up on three different continents with her family settling in the wheat-sheep belt of Western Australia and eventually Perth. She majored in English and Philosophy at the University of Western Australia, before attaining a scholarship for a PhD in English at the University of Sydney.
Deborah’s widespread travels have taken her across the globe, including living in Paris for several years immersed in the literary scene and working at Shakespeare and Company bookstore. She tutored and lectured at the University of Paris VII Denis-Diderot, as well as the prestigious grand école, Sciences Po. Deborah has also been employed in the publishing division of the public affairs directorate at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Throughout her academic career, Deborah has taught literature and cultural studies at tertiary institutions in Sydney, including the University of Sydney, the University of Technology, Sydney, and the University of Notre Dame Australia. She is an award-winning teacher, a recipient of an Australian Government award for university teaching. Deborah’s research focuses on modernist literature of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Her novel, The Players, began with fragments drafted during her many travels. The characters suddenly appeared and wouldn’t stop talking until she pinned them to the page. She is currently working on a monograph for Bloomsbury Academic, entitled Modernism Beyond the Canon.
Alongside writing, Deborah is a keen runner and swimmer who enjoys the occasional yoga class. She is also inspired by modern and contemporary art. Deborah loves all kinds of music and has sung in different ensembles in Paris, Perth and Sydney, including classical, baroque, world music, and big band. Deborah relishes spending time in the bush and anywhere near the sea. Her favourite place to write is on the idyllic shores of the Bouddi Peninsula of New South Wales’ Central Coast.