About Catherine Panich
Catherine Panich was born in Bathurst, New South Wales. She is of Danish-German heritage. Her parents arrived in Australia in 1947 as postwar immigrants. They lived and worked in the Bathurst Migrant Centre.
After graduating with a BA DipEd from Macquarie University, Catherine became a secondary teacher of English, German and History. In 1985 she resigned to pursue her writing career. Her first book, Sanctuary? Remembering Postwar Immigration, explores the stories of the many immigrants who lived and worked in the migrant centres in Australia. This book was originally published by Allen & Unwin in 1988.
As the author of Sanctuary?, Catherine appeared on The Midday Show (Channel 9) and Good Morning Australia (Channel 10), as well as many radio interviews (ABC and commercial stations). She was a guest speaker at the 40 year Bathurst Migrant Camp reunion.
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In January 2012 Sanctuary? Remembering Postwar Immigration was re-published as part of the Routledge Revivals series.
Catherine has a Master of Arts in Australian Literature and a Graduate Certificate in Gender Studies from the University of Sydney. In 2006 she graduated with a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from Macquarie University, receiving the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence and the Fred Rush Convocation Prize for Creative Writing.
Catherine has taught creative writing at Macquarie University and written for Sirius, the alumni journal of Macquarie University. She has also contributed to the literary journal Southerly (65, 2) and the UTS publication Trunk (Volume 1: Hair, Volume 2: Blood).
She is a member of the Australian Society of Authors and the NSW Writers Centre.
Currently, Catherine teaches English and Literature for tertiary preparation, Communication and Media Writing for TAFENSW in between working on her next book.