Marcella Polain was born in Singapore of Irish and Armenian parents, and is Senior Lecturer in Writing at Edith Cowan University. Dumbstruck (1996), won the Anne Elder Prize; Therapy like Fish (2008), was short-listed for the Judith Wright Prize. Her novel, The Edge of the World (2007), short-listed for a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, continues to be translated. She is completing a second novel, compiling new poetry, and developing projects with visual artists, musicians and dancers.