Interview
Know the Author : Randa Abdel-Fattah
Published in Magpies Magazine, Vol. 26 No. 1, March 2011 Randa Abdel-Fattah has been one of Australia’s most well-known and successful writers for young people in Australia for more than twenty years. In more recent years, she has become known across the Australian community for her staunch advocacy for Palestine and the Palestinian people. Randa’s…
Read MoreMarkus Zusak Interview
I believe this interview was written in 2006. It was done for the US Bookseller and Publisher, although the published version underwent a very heavy copyedit and actually bore very little relationship to what I wrote (or what Markus said!). Anyway, water under the bridge, this is the original draft as submitted. When I first…
Read MoreMargaret Mahy Interview 2004
This is the second interview I have done with Margaret Mahy; the first was in 1994. This interview first appeared in Good Reading Magazine in October 2004. In a bedroom-cum-office in a house over-looking New Zealand’s Lyttelton Harbour lives and works children’s author Margaret Mahy. Surrounded by photographs of her children and grandchildren—My family keep…
Read MoreSeries Fiction
Interviews with the creators of Tashi and Selby the Talking Dog from Magpies Magazine, Vol. 18 No. 5, November 2003 This article from Magpies Magazine features two of Australia’s most popular series fiction for children from the 1990s: Tashi, written by Barbara Fienberg and Anna Fienberg, illustrated by Kim Gamble, and Selby the Talking Dog…
Read MoreGeraldine McCaughrean Interview
Late in 2003, I interviewed Geraldine McCaughrean via email. The interview was done for Good Reading magazine. I sent Ms McCaughrean a series of questions, to which she responded in one long email, so what you will read below is, first of all, my questions, and then her response. __________________ Questions for Geraldine McCaughrean I’ve…
Read MoreLauren Child Interview
Sydney, October 2003 Lauren Child was in Australia for a publicity tour and the bi-annual Children’s Book Council of Australia conference. I interviewed her in her hotel room overlooking Sydney’s Botanical Gardens. The interview was published in Good Reading Magazine in January 2004. This is the full transcript of our conversation. _________________________ I first came…
Read MoreDavid Almond Interview
I conducted this interview with David Almond in May 2003, after I heard him speak at the Reading Matters conference at the Australian Centre for Youth Literature at the State Library of Victoria. I hope this transcript captures the conversational tone of the interview, which was for me, both fun and informative. I realise that…
Read MoreEoin Colfer Interview
This interview first appeared in Magpies: Talking about Books for Children in 2003 Artemis Fowl has brought international success for author Eoin (pronounced Owen) Colfer. But before Artemis there was Meg, dead heroine of The Wish List, and before Meg there was Benny, rascally hero of Benny and Omar and Benny and Babe. A great…
Read MorePhillip Gwynne Interview
This interview was first published in Viewpoint: On Books for Young Adults Spring 2000, Volume 8 Nº 3 It was published on the occasion of the release of Nukkin’ Ya, the sequel to his award winning debut novel Deadly, Unna? Go here for a review of Deadly, Unna? _________________________ In 1998, I was asked to…
Read MoreLibby Gleeson Interview
This interview was first published in Australian Women’s Book Review in December 1994. Libby Gleeson is not just the author of numerous picture books and novels for middle year and young adult readers, she has been a true force in promoting the status of Australian children’s authors and illustrators in the wider literary community. Libby…
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