Robert Drewe was born on 9 January 1943 in
Melbourne,
Victoria. At the age of six, he moved with his family to
Perth. He grew up on the West Australian coast and was educated at
Hale School. He joined
The West Australian as a cadet reporter. Three years later he was recruited by
The Age, where he became Sydney chief at the age of 21, later Literary Editor of
The Australian. He was a
columnist,
features editor and special writer on
The Australian and
The Bulletin. He was awarded a Leader Grant travel scholarship by the United States Government. During the 1970s he turned from journalism to writing fiction, and an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Western Australia. In 2019 Drewe won the
Colin Roderick Award for his book
The True Colour of the Sea.
The True Colour of the Sea was shortlisted for the 2019 University of Southern Queensland Steele Rudd Award for a Short Story Collection at the
Queensland Literary Awards. ==Personal life==