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Debra Oswald Debra Oswald i(A27378 works by)
Born: Established: 1959 ;
Gender: Female
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Works By

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1 1 y separately published work icon The Family Doctor Debra Oswald , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2021 20481921 2021 single work novel

'A novel of searing emotional truth, told with the relentless pull of a thriller.

'Paula, a much-loved GP, comes home one evening to the house she is sharing with her friend Stacey and Stacey’s two children, who have moved in with Paula after the break-up of Stacey’s marriage and the increasingly disturbing behaviour of her ex. Paula opens her front door to discover a scene from hell: Stacey and her children are lying dead in pools of blood. As Paula tries to breathe, in walks Matt, who then shoots himself.

'When an obviously scared woman brings in her little boy for a consultation some weeks later, Paula’s eyes are drawn to the bruises around her neck. Determined to never see another woman suffer like Stacey did, Paula talks to the woman, who admits she is being beaten by her husband. A few weeks later, the abusive husband comes in to see a doctor. She realises she has the chance to set things to rights and give the abused woman the freedom she has dreamed of. But can she go against everything she believes to make sure one woman is safe, one child?

'A book to inspire ferocious discussion in book clubs and beyond – the classic moral dilemma writ large and made into a deeply human situation we can all relate to.' (Publication summary)

1 Is There Something Wrong with that Lady? Debra Oswald , 2020 single work drama

'As a lapsed playwright, creator of the Offspring TV series, former Junior Champion Hypochondriac and floundering novelist, what should her next move be? And what motivates people to write or create more ‘stuff’ anyway? Shame? Fear of death? The hope of more sexual offers?

'For now, Debra plans to seize control of the Griffin stage: the exact location she fell in love with theatre, aged 11, and the place her plays Mr Bailey’s Minder and The Peach Season came to life.

'In a funny and excruciatingly honest one-woman show, Debra tells stories about her neurotic childhood, clumsy romantic history, and the anxieties and joys of the writer’s life—all in the hope that the audience can help her work out what comes next.'

Source: Griffin Theatre Company.

1 Heather Morris, Jennifer Mills and Tanya Bretherton on What They're Reading in February Clare Atkins , Debra Oswald , Jennifer Mills , Michelle Johnston , Heather Morris , Craig Sherborne , 2018 single work column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 18 February 2018;

'Our monthly Australian books column also features Melissa Browne, Craig Sherborne and Debra Oswald telling us about their new releases and the books they’re looking forward to.' 

1 y separately published work icon The Whole Bright Year Debra Oswald , Melbourne : Viking , 2018 12906293 2018 single work novel

'In the summer of 1976 it’s picking season on an Australian stone-fruit orchard run by Celia, a hard-working woman in her early forties. Years ago, when her husband was killed as a bystander in an armed robbery, Celia left the city and brought her newborn daughter Zoe to this farm for a secure life. Now sixteen, Zoe is a passionate, intelligent girl, chafing against her mother’s protectiveness, yearning to find intensity and a bit of danger.

'Barging into this world as itinerant fruit-pickers come a desperate brother and sister from Sydney. The hard-bitten Sheena has kidnapped her wild, ebullient eighteen-year-old brother Kieran and dragged him out west, away from trouble in the city. Kieran and Zoe are drawn to each other the instant they meet, sparking excitement, worry, lust, trouble . . .

'How do we protect people we love? How do we bear watching them go out into the perilous world with no guarantee of safety or happiness? What bargains do people make with darkness in order to survive? From the creator of Offspring and author of UsefulThe Whole Bright Year is a gripping, wry and tender novel about how holding on too tightly can cost us what we love.' (Publication summary)

1 8 y separately published work icon Useful Debra Oswald , Scoresby : Penguin , 2015 8141941 2015 single work novel

'Sullivan Moss is useless.

'Once a charming underachiever, he's now such a loser that he can't even commit suicide properly. Waking up in hospital after falling the wrong way on a rooftop, he comes to a decision. He shouldn't waste perfectly good organs just because they're attached to his head. After a life of regrets, Sully wants to do one useful thing: he wants to donate a kidney to a stranger.

'As he scrambles over the hurdles to become a donor, Sully almost accidentally forges a new life for himself. Sober and employed, he makes new friends, not least radio producer Natalie and her son Louis, and begins to patch things up with old ones, like his ex-best mate Tim. Suddenly, everyone wants a piece of him.

'But altruism is not as easy as it seems. Just when he thinks he's got himself together, Sully discovers that he's most at risk of falling apart.' (Publication summary)

1 form y separately published work icon Offspring [Series 4, Episode 13] Debra Oswald , ( dir. Emma Freeman ) Australia : Southern Star John Edwards , 2013 6977009 2013 single work film/TV

'Nina prepares for the biggest day of her life. Meanwhile, Mick goes on a search to bring Billie home.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 31/1/2014)

1 form y separately published work icon Offspring Debra Oswald , ( dir. Kate Dennis ) Australia : Southern Star John Edwards , 2010 Z1733918 2010 single work film/TV 'Fall in love with Nina Proudman as she struggles to deal with her fabulously messy family, her explosive ex-husband, the intensity of a job delivering babies, and the hunt for a decent sex life - whilst also handling her tendency to over-think, fantasise, and wonder about life's other little mysteries.' (Australian Television Information Archive record)
1 48 form y separately published work icon Offspring Imogen Banks , John Edwards , Debra Oswald , Debra Oswald , Tony McNamara , Leon Ford , Ben Chessell , Jonathan Gavin , Michael Lucas , Christine Bartlett , Tommy Murphy , Kylie Needham , Ian Meadows , Charlie Garber , Samantha Strauss , Li-Kim Chuah , Rachel Givney , Alice Bell , ( dir. Shirley Barrett et. al. )agent 2010 Australia : Southern Star John Edwards , 2010- Z1733890 2010 series - publisher film/TV

'Born out of the telemovie of the same name, Offspring is a contemporary drama series about Nina Proudman, a thirtysomething obstetrician and her fabulously messy family. Following the Proudman family's adventures searching for love, fulfillment and balance in the chaos of modern life, Offspring is about the life forces that drive us all: love, sex, babies, food and music. Stylistically fresh and visually exciting, Offspring mixes conventional narrative drama with flashbacks, graphic animation and fantasy sequences, showcasing the vibrant world of Fitzroy, Melbourne, where Nina and the extended Proudman family go about their unpredictable daily lives.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive.

1 6 y separately published work icon Blue Noise Debra Oswald , North Sydney : Random House Australia , 2009 Z1635472 2009 single work novel young adult

'Ash is drooling over his favourite guitar - the one he can't afford - when he meets Charlie Novak. One jam session later and Charlie convinces Ash to play in his band. But it'll never work. Bands never do.

'Erin is wandering down a corridor at school - overthinking things as usual - when she runs into Charlie. Literally. The guy is a fruit loop with his weird hair and hyperactive rantings. When Charlie invites her to be the band's keyboard player, Erin can't get a word in to say no. She's a classical pianist. It'll never work.

'But maybe this time things will be different. Maybe blues music is just what Ash and Erin need.' (From the publisher's website.)

1 2 y separately published work icon House on Fire Debra Oswald , 2009 Sydney : Currency Press , 2011 Z1593164 2009 single work drama 'On the weekend that their father remarries, all three girls face challenges, decisions and the reality of their house burning down.' Source: www.nida.edu.au/ (Sighted 26/05/2009).
1 Farewell to the Sisters Debra Oswald , 2009 single work short story humour
— Appears in: Thanks for the Mammaries 2009; (p. 302-307)
1 Playwright's Note Debra Oswald , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: Stories in the Dark 2008; (p. ix-xi)
1 2 Breast Wishes Merridy Eastman , Jonathan Gavin , Richard Glover , Wendy Harmer , Sheridan Jobbins , James Millar , Debra Oswald , Bruce Brown (composer), 2007 single work musical theatre 'Breast Wishes is about love, loss, life and silicon. Breasts are a badge of femininity, sex, motherhood and stardom; they influence our identity and define us - they are in short marvellous! Big, small, melons, pears - half of us have them and the other half wish they did. Breast Wishes is an exploration of the roles we play as we traverse the rocky landscape of health, family and womanhood with great humour and pathos. A sophisticated and hilarious glimpse of cleavage and beyond.' Source: www.breastwishes.com.au (Sighted 30/09/2008).
1 7 y separately published work icon Getting Air Debra Oswald , Milsons Point : Random House Australia , 2007 Z1410102 2007 single work novel young adult
1 4 y separately published work icon Stories in the Dark Debra Oswald , 2007 Strawberry Hills : Currency Press , 2008 Z1373018 2007 single work drama young adult

'A terrified 12-year-old boy finds himself separated from his family in the unfamiliar streets of a war torn city. Dodging sniper fire and mortar shells he takes refuge in a bombed-out house and in the total blackness his bravado crumbles into tears.

'Into his life steps Anna - older, street smart and scornful of his crying. As a way of shutting the boy up, she starts to tell him a story that she vaguely remembers from her own childhood. And so begins a journey into the shifting, shimmering world of ogres, princes, singing bones, foolish lads and wolf-mothers.'

Source: Riverside Parramatta website, http://www.riversideparramatta.com.au
Sighted: 10/04/2007

1 4 y separately published work icon The Peach Season Debra Oswald , 2006 Sydney : Currency Press , 2007 Z1227841 2006 single work drama

'After the murder of her husband, Celia has shut herself and her 16-year-old daughter Zoë away, toiling on a peach farm in the middle of nowhere. The arrival of two young people to help during picking season heralds the beginning of the end for Celia's safe existence.

'Her daughter falls in love with enigmatic, erratic Kieran, but when the relationship is threatened, they run away together. The safe, perhaps smothering, world that Celia has created unravels; her paranoia and insecurities amplified to full volume. Playing out alongside her fear, we see the increasingly degrading and dangerous lifestyle that the two elopers have fallen into.

'Peach Season is a powerful, salutary tale showing what it's like to be a young person desperate for independence, but also, crucially, what it's like to be a parent during the painful process of letting children fly the nest.' (Publisher's blurb)

1 1 y separately published work icon Frank and the Secret Club Debra Oswald , Camberwell : Puffin , 2005 Z1181143 2005 single work children's fiction children's When Lewis is given a spy kit for his birthday, he and his best friend form a secret club at school. Soon they are in all sorts of trouble.
2 2 y separately published work icon Mr Bailey's Minder Debra Oswald , 2004 (Manuscript version)x401591 Z1309613 2004 single work drama humour Oswald takes on the odd-couple genre by pairing an aged artist with his minder - a young woman fresh out of gaol. Leo Bailey is one of Australia's greatest living artists, whose genius battles to survive the effects of alcohol, cynicism and self-loathing. His daughter Margo finds a willing, if surly, live-in-minder in the ex-con Therese. Added to the dysfunctional duo is the friendly handyman Karl who has been given the task of removing a valuable mural. A feel-good play that doesn't shy away from the bleaker side of life, Mr Bailey's Minder is about friendship, ego and art, and the secret longing for a better life. (Currency Press)
1 y separately published work icon Skate Debra Oswald , 2003 2001 (Manuscript version)x401592 Z1106071 2003 single work drama

'Any plan for a skate park in Narragindi are dead in the water. The kids of the town are left to skate on the town hall steps and take their chances avoiding the local police. Zac, a young leader among the many youth committees set up to get a skate park wants no part in another attempt. His best mate, Corey, a guy with a troubled history, has a passion for the new campaign sparked by his interest in Lauren, a member of the new committee. When tragedy strikes, the town is galvanised into action, and what was originally a fight for a skate park grows into a struggle for acceptance and unity." - publisher's blurb in The Peach Season (2007)

1 5 y separately published work icon The Fifth Quest Debra Oswald , Camberwell : Puffin , 2002 Z955018 2002 single work novel young adult fantasy 'Rose is amazed when she scores a dream role on 'The Quests of Ashtari' - the hit series about legendary sorceress Ashtari, her drop-dead gorgeous brother Xanthus and a man-dog named Kish. Rose is soon catapulted into a world of TV-making, special effects and fame that will be a test for her and her friendships. meanwhile the character she plays - Maya, apprentice to Ashtari - must face tests of her own.' - back cover
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