Born Waltraud Helene Rosalie Ulrich, Asher migrated to Australia from Germany as a post-World War II refugee.
[2] Asher and her husband Mervyn were active in the Australian literary scene.
[4] She also wrote under the name Helen Ulrich, and her short stories were featured in numerous anthologies.
[5] Asher bequeathed money to the Australia Council for the establishment of a biennial prize to be awarded to “a female author whose work carries an anti-war theme”.
The $12,000 Asher Award was administered by the Australian Society of Authors from 2005 to 2017.