192. Anna Whateley: Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal

Anna Whateley’s debut #ownvoices novel Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal, Allen & Unwin, is out now. She also has an essay titled ‘Noisy Silence’ in Growing Up Disabled in Australia, Black Inc Books, edited by Carly Findlay, due out on Feb 2021. When coronovirus spread, Anna founded the bookish chat show #AusChat just to keep the community together, and the youtube channel is now funded in part by the Australian Arts Council.

Anna has a PhD in young adult fiction (literary criticism) and has taught sociology and YA/children’s literature to preservice teachers. She loves to attend writer events, conferences, twitter storms, and book launches, and is also a strong advocate for the neurodivergent community.

During her younger years, Anna traveled a lot, and has had more jobs than she can remember. Some include making pizzas, hotel cleaning, waitering, pharmacy assistant, data entry, publishing, advertising, payroll, and youth work. She is always busy with another hobby or project, from sewing to lego, or taking photos of mushrooms in a rainforest. She loves Minecraft and video editing, and coming up with new ideas for her youtube channel.