Susan Hawthorne is the author/editor of 25 books published in five languages across 20 territories. Her non-fiction books include Bibliodiversity (2014) Wild Politics (2002) and The Spinifex Quiz Book (1993). She has been active in the women's liberation movement since 1973, was involved in Melbourne's Rape Crisis Centre and performed as an aerialist in two women's circuses. She has taught English to Arabic-speaking women, worked in Aboriginal education and has taught across a number of subject areas in universities. She is Adjunct Professor in the School of Humanities at James Cook University, Townsville. Among her awards, she was the winner of the 2017 Penguin Random House Best Achievement in Writing in the Inspire Awards for her work increasing people's awareness of epilepsy and the politics of disability. She has won awards for her contribution to the gay and lesbian community and to publishing. Susan Hawthorne is the author/editor of 30 books published in nine languages across 25 territories.

Her non-fiction books include Bibliodiversity (2014) Wild Politics (2002) and Vortex (2020). She has been active in the women's liberation movement since 1973, was involved in Melbourne's Rape Crisis Centre and performed as an aerialist in two women's circuses. She has taught English to Arabic-speaking women, worked in Aboriginal education and has taught across a number of subject areas in universities. Among her awards are the Magdalen Berns Award (2024), the 2017 Penguin Random House Best Achievement in Writing in the Inspire Awards for her work increasing people's awareness of epilepsy and the politics of disability. In 1996 she won the Hall of Fame, Rainbow Award for her contribution to the Gay and Lesbian Community. She was a Finalist in 2012 for the Audre Lorde Poetry Prize for her book Cow (2011).