Horror author and expert Claire Fitzpatrick has drawn inspiration from her heroes to achieve literary accolades and navigate through profound loss.
The Logan-based speculative fiction author last year published her book, A Vindication of Monsters: Essays on Mary Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft.
Now she is winning awards for her creation, which covers all things body-horror and female empowerment.
A Vindication of Monsters this month won the William J Atheling Award for Criticism or Review at the 2024 Ditmar Awards, and the Rocky Wood Award for Non-Fiction and Criticism at the Australasian Horror Writers Association awards.
Ms Fitzpatrick said she was grateful to be recognised for her “massive project that took several years to put together”.
“It reconfirms that my passion for Mary Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, and for critical and creative non-fiction is worthwhile,” she said.
Mr Fitzpatrick first stumbled upon Shelly and Wollstonecraft while she was studying at university.
She quickly became fascinated by their work and with them as people.
Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, is often considered to have birthed of the body-horror genre.
Her mother Mary Wollstonecraft, who died just days after Shelley was born, was a leading women’s rights activist from the 18th century.
“Both were innovators, thinkers, and both led contradictory lives that were bizarrely parallel to one another,” Ms Fitzpatrick said.
“Though they never met, they shared many similar experiences.”
As a woman and author herself, Ms Fitzpatrick’s own life has been massively impacted by these icons of history.
“For me, Mary Wollstonecraft was a woman ahead of her time, and inspires me to be bold, courageous, and stand up for what I believe in,” Ms Fitzpatrick said.
“Mary Shelley reminds me that despite the many trials and tribulations in my life, it is imperative I remain strong, believe in myself, and keep writing, no matter what obstacles cross my path.
“And gosh, there have been many obstacles.”
In July 2023, not long after the publication of her book, Ms Fitzpatrick’s second daughter Frankie was born, but just six months later her world was turned upside down when her husband took his own life.
“In Australia, of the over 3000 lives lost to suicide each year, approximately 75 per cent are men,” she said.
“It baffles me that more isn’t done to help men.”
With two girls to look after – now aged one and 12 – Ms Fitzpatrick had no choice but to persevere.
“It’s been hard to write fiction,” she said.
“For a while, I felt like a lot of what I was writing didn’t mean anything, or that I was somehow fraudulent.
“But I am now able to write about my feelings through my characters.”
Find more about Claire Fitzpatrick and her work at clairefitzpatrickcom.wordpress.com.
