Andrea Stretton

Contributing Editor, Books, Art and Australia
ABC and SBS TV presenter
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Andrea Stretton has contributed literary criticism for a variety of newspapers and is Contributing Editor, Books for the influential visual arts journal Art and Australia.  Along with reviewing books for the journal, Andrea interviews artists about the role of literature in their life and work; recent subjects include South African artist William Kentridge, British artist Tracey Emin, and Australian architect Harry Seidler. Andrea was Arts Consultant on the Federal Government’s Creative Nation document in 1994. She was also Artistic Director of the Sydney Olympic Arts Festivals for 1998 and 1999.

She is best known for her fifteen years (1987-2001) of television arts on Australia’s two national broadcasting stations. She was Presenter, Series Editor and scriptwriter for the long-running SBS TV programs The Bookshow (a weekly program about authors from around the world) and Masterpiece (a showcase for international arts documentaries); and for ABC TV’s extensive arts program Sunday Afternoon.  She hosts major arts events along with interviewing authors and artists in the public arena and at festivals. Andrea was awarded the prestigious Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French Government in 2002, acknowledging her outstanding contribution to the arts and the fostering of French Australian cultural relations.