Stephen Matthews (writer)

Stephen Matthews (1946 – 25 September 2024)[1] was an Australian author and publisher.

Stephen Matthews
Born1946 (1946)
Chichester, England
Died25 September 2024(2024-09-25) (aged 77–78)
Port Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
EducationUniversity of Cambridge
Occupations
  • Author
  • Publisher
  • Editor
Known forFounder of Ginninderra Press
Notable work
  • Dreams
  • Secrets (editor)
  • Telling Australia's Truth
AwardsMedal of the Order of Australia (OAM, 2021)

Matthews was born in Chichester, England[2] and was educated at Cambridge University. He moved from England to Australia in 1979 and after stints in the Northern Territory and Adelaide he settled in Canberra.[3] In 1996 he established Ginninderra Press.[4] He moved to Adelaide in 2008[5] and died in Port Adelaide on 25 September 2024, bequeathing Ginninderra Press to Debbie Lee. He had published around 3000 titles and printed over 300,000 books.[6][4]

He received a medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to publishing in 2021.[7] In 2007 he won the ACT Writing and Publishing Awards for best children's book, Secrets which he edited.[8]

Matthews was a co-founder of Canberra's Voice magazine[9]

Works

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Editor

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  • Telling Australia's Truth, Ginninderra Press, 2024, anthology poetry
  • Milestones, Ginninderra Press, 2021, anthology poetry
  • I Protest! Poems of Dissent, Ginninderra Press, 2020, anthology poetry
  • Secrets: Stories, Ginninderra Press, 2006, anthology children's fiction
  • Lost: Stories, Ginninderra Press, 2005, anthology short story for children
  • Refuge: Stories, Ginninderra Press, 2004, anthology children's fiction[10][11]
  • Danger: Stories, Ginninderra Press, 2003, anthology children's fiction[12]
  • How Did the Fire Know We Lived Here? Canberra's Bushfires, Ginninderra Press, 2003, anthology short stories and prose[13]
  • Not Theirs the Shame Who Fight: edited selections from the World War I diaries, poems and letters of 6080 Private R. C. (Cleve) Potter, A Company 21st Battalion A.I.F. by Reynold Cleve Potter[14][15]
  • The Eye of the Soul: Interviews with Seventeen of the Younger Generation of Australians Writing for Children and Young Adults, Magpies Magazine, 1998, anthology criticism, biography and interview[16][17][18][19]

Author

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  • Dreams, Ginninderra Press, 2002, anthology children's fiction[20][21]

References

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  1. "Stephen Matthews". www.austlit.edu.au. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  2. "Profile archives". www.actwriters.org.au. Archived from the original on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  3. "Ginninderra Press Fills A Publishing Niche", The Canberra Times, 25 January 1998
  4. 1 2 Musa, Helen (8 October 2024), "Publisher Stephen Matthews dies at 78", City News
  5. Harper, Charlotte (15 June 2008), "The right time to write", The Canberra Times, p. 4
  6. "Tweets and tales held dear", The Australian, p. 15, 14 December 2024
  7. "Book industry figures among 2021 Australia Day honours recipients", Books+Publishing, 27 January 2021
  8. ACT Writing and Publishing Awards Winners Retrieved on 12 July 2016
  9. "The vision behind Canberra's voice", The Canberra Times, p. 20, 4 December 2008
  10. Robson Kett, Margaret (March 2005), "Untitled", Magpies : Talking About Books for Children, vol. 28, no. 1, p. 36
  11. Elliot, Ralph (29 January 2005), "A Refuge By Any Other Name", The Canberra Times, p. 18
  12. Gregg, Alison (March 2004), "A Leap of the Imagination", Magpies : Talking About Books for Children, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 20–21
  13. Robertson, Judith (March 2006), "Untitled", Reviews in Australian Studies, vol. 1, no. 1
  14. Farquharson, John (5 June 1999), "War Genre Gem", The Canberra Times, p. 22
  15. Hart, Melissa (October 1999), "Shorts", Australian Book Review, no. 215, p. 45
  16. Pausacker, Jenny (July 1998), "Voices in Interview", Australian Book Review, no. 202, pp. 37–38
  17. Bantick, Christopher (6 June 1998), "Ensuring A Future For Books", The Canberra Times, p. 21
  18. Tully, Bill (Summer 1998–1999), "Recent Books of Distinction", Blast, no. 38, pp. 24–25
  19. Cameron, Elspeth (August 1998), "Untitled", Magpies : Talking About Books for Children, vol. 42, no. 3, p. 43
  20. May, Fiona (June 2003), "Untitled", Voice : A Journal of Comment and Review, vol. 19, no. 1, p. 1
  21. Douglas, Elizabeth (February 2003), "Untitled", Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia, vol. 47, no. 1, p. 13