Erna Walraven

Born in the Netherlands and moved to Spain as a young adult, before moving to Australia in her late twenties. She worked as a translator and interpreter of Dutch, German, French, Spanish and English, as well as a kennel-maid, zookeeper, petrol pump attendant, waitress, aged care worker, farmhand, conveyancing clerk, debt collector and a dog washer. Eventually settling for zoology, as Senior Curator at Taronga Zoo in Sydney for two decades, where she was responsible for the care of some 400 wild animal species.

In her writing Erna examines gender roles throughout the animal kingdom, unpacking the sexist myth that all females, animal and human, are demure, quiet and submissive to males. She covers topics such as choice, motherhood, parenting, control, power, mating systems and more.