Sunscreen and Lipstick

Joan Elizabeth London was born on July 24, 1948 in Australia. She is an author of short stories, screenplays and novels. She graduated from the University of Western Australia having studied English and French, has taught English as a second language and is a bookseller. London is the author of two collections of stories. The first, Sister Ships, won The Age Book of the Year (1986), and the second, Letter to Constantine, won the Steele Rudd Award and the West Australian Premier's Award for Fiction (both in 1994). The two were published together as The New Dark Age. She has published three novels, Gilgamesh, The Good Parents and The Golden Age.

In 2015 she was shortlisted for the Stella Prize for her novel The Golden Age. This title also shared n the 2015 NSW Premier's People Choice Award along with Only the Animals by Ceridwen Dovey. Joan London also won the $30,000 Nita B Kibble Literary Award in 2015 which recognises the work of an established Australian woman writer for her title The Golden Age. This same title also won in the fiction category for the Queensland Literary Awards 2015.

Joan London was awarded a living treasure award in 2015 by the Western Australian state government. The award is given to `highly regarded and skilled' career artists who have worked within or created work about Western Australia, passed on their knowledge to other artists, and demonstrated a commitment or contribution to the Western Australian arts sector. In 2015 London also won the Patrick White Literary Award which is awarded to authors who 'have made a significant but inadequately recognised contribution to Australian literature'. She was also recognized with a Prime Minister Literary Award in the fiction category with her title The Golden Age. In 2016, The Golden Age won the WA Premier¿s Book Award for Fiction.

030