Jaclyn Moriarty

Jaclyn Moriarty

Contributions

Biography

Jaclyn grew up in Sydney, Australia with four sisters, (two of them, Liane and Nicola, are also authors) and one brother. Her family liked telling stories, commissioned by their Dad, who gave them one dollar fifty cents for an exercise book full of words! Her first novel (aged seven) was heavily influenced by Enid Blyton, apart from the ending where the talking toys got into a fist fight and all hell broke loose! Her career plans were to be a flight attendant or go into advertising but she decided to switch to journalism. After taking English and Law at the University of Sydney, she continued studying Law, gaining a Masters at Yale University and a PhD at Cambridge! She then worked as a media, entertainment and copyright lawyer back in Sydney. She sent her novel Feeling Sorry For Celia to an agency, luckily author Garth Nix worked there at the time and quickly found her publishers.

Jaclyn is the best-selling author of novels for young adults and adults including Feeling Sorry for Celia, The Year of Secret Assignments, and the Colours of Madeleine trilogy.

She has been the recipient of the NSW Premier’s Literary Award, the Queensland Literary Award, and the Aurealis Award for Fantasy. Her books have been named Boston Globe Honor Books, White Raven selections and Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association. She says she writes for young adults because she likes their company: ’They seem to be very passionate, funny and smart’

She moved to Montreal, Canada for a few years but now lives in Sydney with her son.

Some of her favourite things are choc, blueberries, ice-skating and sleep!

Contributions

Biography

Jaclyn grew up in Sydney, Australia with four sisters, (two of them, Liane and Nicola, are also authors) and one brother. Her family liked telling stories, commissioned by their Dad, who gave them one dollar fifty cents for an exercise book full of words! Her first novel (aged seven) was heavily influenced by Enid Blyton, apart from the ending where the talking toys got into a fist fight and all hell broke loose! Her career plans were to be a flight attendant or go into advertising but she decided to switch to journalism. After taking English and Law at the University of Sydney, she continued studying Law, gaining a Masters at Yale University and a PhD at Cambridge! She then worked as a media, entertainment and copyright lawyer back in Sydney. She sent her novel Feeling Sorry For Celia to an agency, luckily author Garth Nix worked there at the time and quickly found her publishers.

Jaclyn is the best-selling author of novels for young adults and adults including Feeling Sorry for Celia, The Year of Secret Assignments, and the Colours of Madeleine trilogy.

She has been the recipient of the NSW Premier’s Literary Award, the Queensland Literary Award, and the Aurealis Award for Fantasy. Her books have been named Boston Globe Honor Books, White Raven selections and Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association. She says she writes for young adults because she likes their company: ’They seem to be very passionate, funny and smart’

She moved to Montreal, Canada for a few years but now lives in Sydney with her son.

Some of her favourite things are choc, blueberries, ice-skating and sleep!