Rate My Professor David Whish Wilson

David Whish-Wilson is an Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing in the School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry, Faculty of Humanities at Curtin University, where he currently serves as Area Coordinator and Major Lead for Creative Writing. He has been a lecturer at Curtin University since 1998. Whish-Wilson holds a BA in Philosophy and English and Comparative Literature from Murdoch University, where he received the Vice Chancellor's Award for Academic Excellence, and a PhD in English and Comparative Literature (Creative Writing). Before focusing on academia, he worked in various roles including barman, actor, labourer, teacher, and exterminator across Europe, Africa, and Asia. He has taught in the prison system in Perth and initiated Fiji's first prisoner writing program.

His academic interests and research specializations center on creative writing, particularly crime fiction and creative non-fiction. Whish-Wilson is the author of eleven novels and three creative non-fiction books. Key publications include the Frank Swann crime series: Line of Sight (2010, Penguin), Zero at the Bone (2013, Penguin), Old Scores (2016, Fremantle Press), and True West (2019, Fremantle Press); other novels such as The Summons (2006, Random House), The Coves (2018, Fremantle Press), Shore Leave (2020, Fremantle Press), The Sawdust House (2022, Fremantle Press), and I Am Already Dead (2023, Fremantle Press); and non-fiction work Perth (2013, NewSouth Publishing). His contributions extend to short stories, essays, reviews, and academic articles. Whish-Wilson has earned significant recognition, including the Curtin University Faculty of Humanities Book of the Year Award (2014), Creative Work of the Year Award (2011), Minor Creative Work of the Year (2015), Patricia Hackett Prize for Fiction (2015) for The Cook, shortlistings for the Ned Kelly Awards (2010 for Line of Sight, 2020 for True West), and shortlistings for Western Australian Premier's Book Awards (2014 for Perth, others). His works have had a notable impact on Australian literature, particularly in exploring crime, history, corruption, and Western Australian narratives.