Acclaimed writer Geraldine Brooks honoured

Australian writer Geraldine Brooks is no stranger to accolades.

The foreign correspondent-turned-novelist has a list of accomplishments most in the literary world can only dream of.

Now the Pulitzer Prize and Australian Book of the Year winner, who has also taken out international awards for journalism, can add another accolade to the list - Officer (AO) in the Order of Australia.

A dual Australian-US citizen living with her family on the Massachusetts island Martha's Vineyard, Brooks looks back on a modest yet nurturing upbringing in Sydney as integral to forging her brilliant career.

"Books were huge in my family growing up," she told AAP.

"Going to the library once a week was a highlight.

"We didn't have a ton of money so the library was a very important thing for us."

Brooks has been recognised in Australia Day honours for distinguished service to literature.

The former Wall Street Journal reporter, who has covered crises in the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans, has also been acknowledged as a role model for young writers and an advocate for indigenous literacy.

She considers herself a great fan of Australian literature and proud to be part of its landscape, having written five novels and several nonfiction works.

"I get a great thrill when I see another Australian writer recognised, not just in Australia but internationally," she said.

"I'm always pushing Australian novels into the hands of unsuspecting friends, saying 'you thought that Richard Flanagan book was good, you have got to try this one as well'.

"We do have important stories to tell."

She maintains a keen eye on Australia's political state of play, not being afraid to weigh in on the leadership.

"I didn't think we were really being represented as the modern and progressive country that we are under the previous leader," she said.

"I am hoping Malcolm (Turnbull) will take the challenge of climate change particularly seriously and I hope he'll have the political courage to act on it."

Brooks' next writing venture involves her returning to her journalistic roots and to the Middle East where she will work on a non-fiction publication.