John Marsden (born 27 September 1950
) is an Australian writer and unlicensed alternative school
principal.
Marsden's books have been translated into eleven languages.
While working as a teacher, Marsden began writing for children, and had his first book, ''
So Much to Tell You
''So Much to Tell You'' is a young adult novel by Australian author John Marsden (writer), John Marsden, first published in 1987. It was his debut book. It was instantly successful in Australia and the US and has since been translated into nine l ...
'', published in 1987. Since then, he has written or edited over 40 books and has sold over 5 million books throughout the world.
In 2006, Marsden started an
alternative school
An alternative school is an educational establishment with a curriculum and methods that are nontraditional. Such schools offer a wide range of philosophies and teaching methods; some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientati ...
, Candlebark School in the
Macedon Ranges
The Macedon Ranges is a region in Central Victoria, known for its expansive native forests, vibrant arts scene, thriving food and wine industries (including weekly farmers' markets) and natural attractions such as Hanging Rock and Mount Macedon. It ...
.
Marsden has since reduced his writing to focus on teaching and running the school. In 2016, he opened the arts-focused secondary school,
Alice Miller School
Alice may refer to:
* Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname
Literature
* Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll
* ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...
, also in the
Macedon Ranges
The Macedon Ranges is a region in Central Victoria, known for its expansive native forests, vibrant arts scene, thriving food and wine industries (including weekly farmers' markets) and natural attractions such as Hanging Rock and Mount Macedon. It ...
. He is also the patron of youth media organisation
Express Media
Express Media is an Australian literary youth arts organisation, founded in 1983. Originally called Express Australia, the organisation is currently listed on the Register of Cultural Organisations. It presents an annual program of special events, ...
. He has no academic education in pedagogy and is not state licenced.
Early life
Marsden was born in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
and spent the first 10 years of his life living in the country towns of
Kyneton, Victoria
Kyneton ( ) is a town in the Macedon Ranges region of Victoria, Australia. The Calder Freeway bypasses Kyneton to the north and east. Kyneton is on Dja Dja Wurrung, Taungurung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung country.
The town has four main streets: ...
, and
Devonport, Tasmania
Devonport ( ; Palawa Kani: ''Tiagarra'') is a city in northern Tasmania, Australia, located on the lands of the Pannilerpanner clan of the Palawa nation. It is situated at the mouth of the Mersey River. Devonport had an urban population of 26,1 ...
.
He is a great-great-great-great nephew of colonial Anglican clergyman and magistrate Rev.
Samuel Marsden
Samuel Marsden (25 June 1765 – 12 May 1838) was an English-born priest of the Church of England in Australia and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society, believed to have introduced Christianity to New Zealand. Marsden was a prom ...
.
When he was 10 years old, Marsden moved to Sydney and attended
The King's School, Parramatta
The King's School is an Education in Australia#Non-government schools, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, Pre-school education, early learning, primary school, primary and secondary school, secondary day and boarding school, boardi ...
.
Marsden was accepted into
Sydney University
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...
to study a double degree in Law and Arts,
but eventually dropped out. He has worked at different jobs, including an abattoir, working in a mortuary, delivering pizzas, working as a motorbike courier, working as a nightwatchman, selling encyclopaedias, and working with chickens.
Writing career
Early career
While working at the prestigious
Geelong Grammar School
, motto_translation = 1 Corinthians 1:30: "For us, Christ was made wisdom"(1 Corinthians 1:30: Christ, who has been made for us in wisdom)
, city = Corio, Victoria
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, ty ...
's
Timbertop
Timbertop is a full-time boarding, co-educational campus of Geelong Grammar School located near Mansfield, Victoria, Australia.
Established in 1953, by then Headmaster James Darling, Timbertop is compulsory for all year-nine students attend ...
campus as an English teacher, Marsden made the decision to write for teenagers, following his dissatisfaction with his students' apathy towards reading,
or the observation that teenagers simply weren't reading anymore.
Marsden then wrote ''
So Much to Tell You
''So Much to Tell You'' is a young adult novel by Australian author John Marsden (writer), John Marsden, first published in 1987. It was his debut book. It was instantly successful in Australia and the US and has since been translated into nine l ...
'' in only three weeks, and the book was published in 1987.
The book sold record numbers and won numerous awards including "Book of the Year" as awarded by the
Children's Book Council of Australia
The Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) is a not for profit organisation which aims to engage the community with literature for young Australians. The CBCA presents the annual Children's Book of the Year Awards to books of literary merit ...
(CBCA).
In the five years following the publication of ''So Much To Tell You'', Marsden published six more books. Notable works from this period are ''Out of Time'', which was nominated by the CBCA as a notable book for older readers, and ''Letters From the Inside'' and a sequel to ''So Much to Tell You'' called ''Take My Word For It'', which were both shortlisted for the CBCA's Children's Book of the Year: Older Readers award.
Upon publication in the United States, ''Letters From the Inside'' received accolades from
The Horn Book Magazine
''The Horn Book Magazine'', founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony Miller and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietres ...
and the
American Library Association
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...
.
American novelist
Robert Cormier
Robert Edmund Cormier (January 17, 1925 – November 2, 2000) was an American author and journalist, known for his deeply pessimistic novels, many of which were written for young adults. Recurring themes include abuse, mental illness, violence, ...
found the novel "unforgettable" and described John Marsden as a "major writer deserving of world-wide acclaim".
Later career
In 1993, Marsden published ''
Tomorrow, When the War Began
''Tomorrow, When the War Began'' is the first book in the ''Tomorrow'' series by John Marsden. It was published in 1993, and is a young adult invasion novel, detailing a high-intensity invasion and occupation of Australia by a foreign power. Th ...
'', the first book in the
''Tomorrow'' series and his most acclaimed and best-selling work to date. Marsden went on to write seven books in the ''Tomorrow'' series, together with a follow-up trilogy, ''
The Ellie Chronicles
The ''Tomorrow'' series is a series of seven young adult invasion novels written by Australian writer John Marsden, detailing the invasion and occupation of Australia by a foreign power. The novels are related from the first-person perspectiv ...
'', despite originally intending for the entire series to only consist of a trilogy.
At the same time as writing the ''Tomorrow'' series, Marsden wrote several other novels such as ''
Checkers
Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...
'', edited works such as ''This I Believe'', wrote children's picture books such as ''The Rabbits'', poetry such as ''Prayer for the Twenty-First Century'', and non-fiction works such as ''Everything I Know About Writing'' and ''Secret Men's Business''.
Themes
Marsden's earlier works are largely novels aimed at teenage or young adult audience.
Common themes in Marsden's works include sexuality, violence in society, survival at school and in a harsh world, and conflict with adult authority figures.
However, Marsden also has declared that he wishes to write about "things that have always been important for humans...
uch as
Uch ( pa, ;
ur, ), frequently referred to as Uch Sharīf ( pa, ;
ur, ; ''"Noble Uch"''), is a historic city in the southern part of Pakistan's Punjab province. Uch may have been founded as Alexandria on the Indus, a town founded by Alexand ...
love, for a start. And the absence of love. The way people relate to each other. The way people solve problems. Courage. Spirit. The human spirit."
Awards and commendations
Marsden has won every major writing award in Australia for young people's fiction
including what Marsden describes as one of the highlights of his career,
the 2006 Lloyd O'Neil Award for contributions to Australian publishing.
This award means that Marsden is one of only five authors to be honoured for lifelong services to the Australian book industry.
John Marsden was also nominated for the
Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award ( sv, Litteraturpriset till Astrid Lindgrens minne) is an international children's literary award established by the Swedish government in 2002 to honour the Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren (1907–200 ...
in 2008, the world's largest children's and youth literature award and the second largest literature prize in the world.
Internationally, he has twice been named among Best Books of the Year by the
American Library Association
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...
and once by
Publishers' Weekly (USA), has been runner-up for Dutch Children's Book of the Year and short-listed for the German Young Readers' Award, won the Grand Jury Prize as Austria's Most Popular Writer for Teenagers, and won the coveted
Buxtehude Bull in Germany.
However, despite his number of awards, Marsden has said that he generally does not care about awards (with the exception of the Lloyd O'Neil Award and The Melbourne Prize for Literature).
In 1996, Marsden's books took the top six places on the Teenage Fiction best-seller lists for Australia.
Also in 1996, he was named "Australia's most popular author today in any literary field" by ''
The Australian
''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...
''.
In 1997, Australian readers voted three of his books into Australia's 100 most-loved books of all time.
In 2014,
Lyndon Terracini
Lyndon William Terracini, OSI (born 1949), is an Australian operatic baritone and from 2009 to October 2022 artistic director of Opera Australia.
Early life
Terracini was born in 1949, the oldest of four children born to Shirley and Vita Ter ...
announced that
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of ...
had co-commissioned
Kate Miller-Heidke
Kate Melina Miller-Heidke (; born 16 November 1981) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Although classically trained, she has generally followed a career in alternative pop music. She signed to Sony Australia, Epic in the US and RCA in the ...
to write an
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
based on Marsden's ''The Rabbits''.
The work, ''
The Rabbits
''The Rabbits'' is a music theatre work with music by Kate Miller-Heidke and libretto by Lally Katz (with additional music by Iain Grandage), based on the book by John Marsden illustrated by Shaun Tan. As per the original book, it is an allegory ...
'', premiered in 2015 in Perth, and was staged in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, winning several awards.
In December 2018, Marsden was awarded the
Dromkeen Medal
The Dromkeen Medal is a literary prize awarded annually by the Courtney Oldmeadow Children's Literature Foundation for those who have advanced children's literature in Australia. The Medal was established by bookseller, Joyce Oldmeadow in 1982, ...
, in recognition of his outstanding achievement in children’s and young adult literature.
Published works and awards
The ''Tomorrow'' series
Other works
References
External links
*
Candlebark schoolWorksat
Open Library
Open Library is an online project intended to create "one web page for every book ever published". Created by Aaron Swartz, Brewster Kahle, Alexis Rossi, Anand Chitipothu, and Rebecca Malamud, Open Library is a project of the Internet Archive, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsden, John
1950 births
Place of birth missing (living people)
20th-century Australian novelists
21st-century Australian novelists
Australian children's writers
Australian male novelists
Australian people of English descent
Australian writers of young adult literature
Living people
People educated at Geelong Grammar School
Writers from Melbourne
People educated at The King's School, Parramatta
20th-century Australian male writers
21st-century Australian male writers
Australian headmasters