Geraldine Brooks is an acclaimed Australian-American journalist and novelist whose literary career has been marked by significant achievements and contributions to contemporary literature. After beginning her professional journey as a rookie reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald, Brooks moved to the United States to further her education at Columbia University, where she earned a master’s degree in journalism. Her early work as a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal allowed her to cover critical global events, earning her the Overseas Press Club’s Hal Boyle Award for her reporting from the Persian Gulf in 1990.

Brooks’s literary debut came with her non-fiction book, Nine Parts of Desire, which explored the lives of Muslim women in the Middle East and became an international bestseller. This success paved the way for her transition into fiction, with her first novel, Year of Wonders, published in 2001. The novel, set during the bubonic plague, captivated readers and established Brooks as a powerful voice in historical fiction.

Her most notable work, March, published in 2005, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, making her the first Australian to receive this prestigious award. This novel, inspired by Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, delves into the Civil War era and showcases Brooks’s ability to weave historical narratives with emotional depth. Following this, her novel People of the Book further solidified her reputation, winning multiple awards and exploring the rich history of the Sarajevo Haggadah.

In recent years, Brooks has continued to produce compelling works, including Horse, which became a New York Times Best Seller and won the 2023 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction. Her ability to tackle complex themes such as race and history through engaging storytelling has made her a significant figure in modern literature. Brooks’s contributions extend beyond her novels, as she has also delivered prestigious lectures and participated in various literary projects, further enriching the literary landscape.