Jane Burke was born in 1965 in Sydney, where she was the fourth of five sisters; her parents were writers.
[1][2] Burke trained as a nurse at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and later specialised in oncology.
The Red Cardigan published 2004 was also a CBCA Notable Book as well as translated into Dutch and Swedish editions.
Nine Letters Long, the sequel to The Red Cardigan was highly commended for the 2005 Aurealis Award for best horror novel,[3] and The Story of Tom Brennan was awarded the 2006 Book of the Year for Older Readers by the Children's Book Council of Australia,[4] and shortlisted for The Children's Peace Prize for Literature.
It is on the current NSW Higher School Certificate prescriptions list as well as studied widely throughout Australia.