About me

I am a writer and editor based in South Australia, where I live within walking distance of the sea.

My novella, Ravenous Girls, was one of the two winners of the inaugural 20/40 Publishing Prize in 2023 and is published by Finlay Lloyd Publishing. It was named Fiction Pick of the Week at the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, and was picked as one of the 25 Best Australian Books of 2023 by the Guardian Australia.

Burton has written a vivid, intimate sketch of 1980s adolescence – and a clear-eyed reflection on the traumatic experience of loving someone with a severe eating disorder. Fuelled by emotion recollected in tranquillity, it’s a coming-of-age story of remarkable compression, compassion and nuance.
— Cameron Woodhead, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age

Chroniclers of fictional family life don’t always understand that trauma is most often multilayered, like scar tissue. Just how fully author Rebecca Burton grasps this is evident in her delicate characterisations and sometimes heartbreaking plot.
— Paul Daley, Guardian Australia

My two novels for young adults, Leaving Jetty Road and Beyond Evie, were published by HarperCollins Australia. Both were named as Notable Books by the Children’s Book Council of Australia and published overseas. Leaving Jetty Road also won a Varuna Award for Manuscript Development. I am represented by Jane Novak, Literary Agent (jane@janenovak.com).

My stories have been shortlisted and anthologised in several awards and collections, including the MIKI Prize 2024 Anthology, the Newcastle Short Story Award 2024 Anthology and the Paris volume of the Great Cities Anthology. Most recently, the first chapter of my fiction manuscript-in-progress, Winter in Cairo, was given an Honourable Mention in the CRAFT First Chapters Contest 2025 and my short story City of Light was shortlisted in the Peter Carey Short Story Award. In 2024 I was also the winner of the Deep Creek Residency.

My editing career has included working as a freelance proofreader for a justice of the Supreme Court, as the Senior Editor for the University of Adelaide Press, as a freelance editor and manuscript assessor for private clients and as an editor and proofreader within the local government. I am a Professional Member of the Institute of Professional Editors Ltd (IPEd).

To find out more about my writing and editing life, or to reach out to me, please feel free to visit my website, www.rebecca-burton.com.