Queen’s Birthday Honours 2012
Several Australian writers, and others connected with the world of Australian literature, were recognised in the 2012 Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
Peter Carey becomes an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO). The expatriate novelist told the Age’s Jason Steger that receiving an AO was emotionally different from winning a writing prize: ‘it is more deeply satisfying because it's of your place and means that you aren't forgotten; someone's noticed what you've been doing with your life'.
Carey continued: ‘It's not like I set out to represent Australia in contests or in an ambassadorial role. But the minute I open my mouth or a reader reads a paragraph or two they are introduced to Australia in some way and enter into a conversation about what we are and who we are.’ (Age, 11 June 2012)
Joining Carey with an AO are writer and philanthropist Barbara Blackman, musician and artist Rolf Harris and former artistic director of La Mama Theatre Liz Jones. Those who become Members of the Order of Australia (AM) include actor and writer Grahame Bond, theatre director Wayne Harrison, and poet and academic Emeritus Professor Peter Steele.
Professor Peter Singer, best known for his work in the fields of philosophy and ethics, and co-editor of J.M. Coetzee and Ethics: Philosophical Perspectives on Literature (2010), becomes a Companion in the Order of Australia (AC).
For a full list of the 2012 Queen’s Birthday Honours recipients, follow the links on the Governor General’s website.