About

Stephanie Buckle was born in the UK, where she spent her childhood. Her family emigrated to New Zealand when she was ten. Three years later, her father, a ceramic chemist, was offered employment in Melbourne, and the family moved again.

Stephanie completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at Melbourne University in 1970 and trained as a high school teacher. She married her husband, David in 1972 and returned to live in New Zealand for six years. Here, Stephanie trained as a psychiatric nurse at Carrington Hospital in Auckland.

She and David returned to Australia in 1978, where David took up work at the ANU.

In her early years in Canberra, Stephanie worked as a teacher and as a psychiatric nurse.  She gained a Diploma in Counselling from the University of Canberra in 1987 and worked as a counsellor for the Haemophilia Support Group for four years.  She then moved to the AIDS Action Council where she was the HIV and Sexual Health Counsellor for 20 years, until her retirement in 2010.

Since retiring, Stephanie and David have built a home on their cattle property at Brindabella, an isolated and beautiful valley west of Canberra, which is little changed since Miles Franklin lived there. Inspired by the old elms and fruit trees on the property which were planted by Miles Franklin’s parents in the late 1890’s, Stephanie is developing a large garden.

Stephanie has three children and eight grandchildren.

Stephanie’s writing has won numerous awards, and her short stories have appeared in Island and The Burley Journal.  She has twice been represented in Best Australian Stories edited by Cate Kennedy.  She has written two novels, both unpublished, and is currently working on a third, as well as continuing to write short fiction. 

Her first collection of short stories, 'Habits of Silence', was published by Finlay Lloyd in July 2017, and launched at the Canberra Writers Festival on August 26th 2017.