Lin Van Hek (aka Lyn van Hecke, born Lyn Whitehead) is an Australian writer, singer, painter, designer and artist. She was a vice-president of the Society of Women Writers and co-founder of the literary-music group Difficult Women.

Lin Van Hek
Background information
Occupation(s)Artist, musician
Websitewww.linvanhek.com

Early life

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Van Hek was born in Melbourne and lived in Europe and India while she was growing up.

Career

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Van Hek co-wrote and sang the song "Intimacy" for the soundtrack of the film The Terminator (1984).[1] She later recorded a solo CD River of Life featuring songs of New Zealand writer Kath Tait. More recently, she has performed with her partner, Joe Dolce in Difficult Women, that began with a series of feminist literary salons van Hek held in the 1980s.[2]

Van Hek also worked for over two decades with a group of women in North Vietnam designing, manufacturing and trading in hand-embroidered silk garments and textiles with a focus on fair trade and worker ethics.[3]

Van Hek is a prolific painter and writer. She is described by Booker Prize-winning author Keri Hulme as writing "like an angel giving the devil her due."[4]

Awards

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  • 1988 winner of the Melbourne The Age Short Story Award
  • 2015 Best Australian Poems, edited by Geoff Page.
  • 2016 & 2017 winner of the Society of Women Writers short story contest.

Bibliography

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Novels

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  • The Hanging Girl (Misfit Books, 1988)
  • The Ballad of Siddy Church (Spinifex, 1997)
  • Katherine Mansfield's Black Paper Fan (Difficult Women, 2010)

Short fiction

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Collections
  • The Slain Lamb Stories (Independent, 1979)
  • Anna's Box : selected short stories (Difficult Women, 2006)
Stories
Title Year First published Reprinted/collected Notes
Mrs Black 2003 Van Hek, Lin (2003). "Cat Tales: The Meaning of Cats in Women's Lives". Spinifex Press.
The Goddess Paddock 2004 Van Hek, Lin (2004). "Horse Dreams: The Meaning of Horses in Women's Lives". Spinifex Press.
This Most Privileged of Madnesses 2013 Van Hek, Lin (May 2013). "This Most Privileged of Madnesses". Quadrant.
Mikel’s Christmas 2017 Van Hek, Lin (June 2017). "Mikel's Christmas". Quadrant.
Mrs Black 2017 Van Hek, Lin (December 2017). "Mrs Black". Quadrant.

Book reviews

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Year Review article Work(s) reviewed
2020 Van Hek, Lin (January–February 2018). "Poetry of wildness". Quadrant. 62 (1–2 [543]): 85–86. Petit, Pascale (2017). Mama Amazonica. Bloodaxe.

References

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  1. ^ Sommerlad, Joe (1 July 2019). "SONY WALKMAN AT 40: HOW THE MILLION-SELLING GADGET TOOK MUSIC PORTABLE AND INSPIRED THE MIXTAPE". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  2. ^ Talbot, Danielle (17 February 1995). "Difficult Women Have Their Day". The Age. Melbourne, Australia. p. 18.
  3. ^ staff. "Lin van Hek profile". Society of Women Writers: Victoria. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  4. ^ staff (1997). "The Ballad of Siddy Church". Feminist Bookstore News. 20: 104.
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