Core expertise
Literary studies
Biography
Melinda completed her Bachelor of Arts (Hons I) and PhD in English literature at the University of Sydney. She’s previously held lectureships at the University of Sydney, European College of Liberal Arts, Berlin (now Bard College, Berlin), ANU and RMIT University.
Her research focuses on women’s writing, especially in its intersections with modernism, the post-45 New York intellectuals, and the contemporary literary scene. She’s an established book critic, writing for the major Australian newspapers and literary magazines, and in 2020 was a finalist for the Pascall Prize for Criticism, Australia's only award for arts criticism. She’s been a judge of the Miles Franklin Literary Award since 2017. She collaborates with Dr Julieanne Lamond (ANU) and the Stella Prize on the Stella Count, which quantifies gender bias in the book pages in Australia.
