AustLit

Joan Woodberry was born at Narrabri, New South Wales. She has travelled widely and lived in the Middle East, Greece and London. She has lived in Tasmania since 1959. She was educated at the universities of Sydney, Melbourne and Tasmania, and has worked as a teacher and librarian. Before her retirement she was Warden at Hobart Teachers' College and Lecturer in English Literature.

Woodberry has written scripts for stage and radio, many of which have been broadcast on the BBC. Her many children's books have been well-received, especially the Raffles series. One book in this series, Rafferty Rides a Winner (1961), was co-winner of the Book of the Year Award of the Children's Book Council. Woodberry has also written a number of books for adults. These include the texts for a series of regional sketchbooks published by Rigby in the 1970s (such as Historic Hobart Sketchbook (1976) and Historic Richmond (Tasmania) Sketchbook (1977)). She edited the three volume Hydro Construction Villages (1981-1983), as well as co-writing the five volume textbook series, Pleasure in English for Australian Schools (1964-1965). She has also edited a number of anthologies by the Fellowship of Australian Writers, Tasmania.

She has been closely involved with the Australian Book Council, the Copyright Board, the Libraries Promotion Council and the Tasmanian Arts Advisory Board.

In 1981, Woodberry was named a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of her services to education and literature. In 1995 she graduated from the University of Tasmania with her third masters degree, and in 2000 was admitted to the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the same university. In 2002 she was appointed as a Governor of the University of Tasmania.

In 2005 her name was entered on the Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women.