Philip Fitzpatrick

Philip Fitzpatrick was a Kiap (Patrol Officer) in Papua New Guinea between 1967 and 1973. Between 1974 and 1994 he was a Site Recorder and then Registrar of Aboriginal Sites in the Aboriginal Heritage Branch in South Australia.

After 1994 he worked as an independent consultant in both Australia and Papua New Guinea carrying out over 260 heritage surveys and writing numerous detailed social mapping and heritage research reports.

He is widely published, both in non-fiction and fiction. He is the author of novels set in both Australia and Papua New Guinea. In 2010 he co-founded a national annual literature competition in Papua New Guinea. He is the founder of Pukpuk Publishing, a not-for-profit independent publisher specialising in Papua New Guinean literature. He publishes both his own work on KDP as well as the work of Papua New Guinea writers.

He attended the Australian School of Pacific Administration and has a double degree in literature and a degree in government from the University of Queensland.

He is now retired but still writing.