Botanic Gardens of Sydney is delighted to welcome Kathy Lette as one of our first official ambassadors, bringing her sharp wit and bold ideas to the Gardens.
Kathy Lette is a celebrated and outspoken comic writer with an inimitable take on serious current issues. A pioneering voice who helped redefine comedic feminist writing, Kathy first achieved succès de scandale as a teenager with the novel Puberty Blues, which was made into a major film and TV mini-series.
Her twenty one novels have been published in nineteen languages.
Kathy is also an ambassador for The National Autistic Society, Their World and Ambitious About Autism.
An autodidact, (a word Kathy says she taught herself) she now has three honorary doctorates and was recently honoured with a G100 Exceptional Women of Excellence Award for her "outstanding work as an author and advocate of women's rights."
Kathy also recently completed a tour of a one‑woman show, Girls Night Out, and is pleased to report that she didn't fall out with the cast. She cites career highlights as once teaching Stephen Fry a word, Salman Rushdie the limbo, and scripting Julian Assange’s cameo in The Simpsons 500th episode.
Having grown up in Sydney, Kathy spent much of her early life visiting the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and has retained a deep affection for nature, conservation and the role of green spaces in shaping culture and community.
Kathy has two children and now divides her time between Sydney and London.
