John+Marsden+1

He attended many different primary schools and was encouraged by teachers to write deciding at just nine years of age that he wanted to be an author. John went to a very strict high school in Paramatta. He spent many Saturdays in detention as he found it hard to follow the strict rules, but he used his time to read novels – sometimes three in a day! After high school he attended University to study a degree in Law/Arts. He soon became bored and spent the next ten years doing other jobs including working in a morgue and as a security guard. At this time he also became very lonely and depressed and spent some time in hospital. At twenty eight years John became a teacher. He began as a PE teacher (which he thought was funny as he had always been bad at sport) but he soon became an English teacher and taught for nine years at Geelong Grammar School. John currently owns his own school in a bush setting near Romsey in Victoria. The school is called ‘Candlebark’ and has operated since 2006. It is a different school which John describes as “somewhere between Steiner and The Simpsons”. There is no bell, the students call him John- not Mr Marsden and even his dog Coco joins in classes. He is very fussy about the teachers he employs and says they must be unique and love each other as much as they love their students. He won’t take in any students who may be a distraction and he discourages parents getting involved in the classroom. There are only 86 students because he wants to keep the school small. There is a waiting list of 4 years and the cost is around $8600 per year. He also runs writers weekends at his property for those who wish to write a book and for those who have already begun. The first novel written was in 1987. Called ‘So Much To Tell You’, it took only three weeks to write and won many awards, Since them John Marsden has written forty novels, both fiction and non-fiction. Reading and day dreaming he says are still his favorite occupations to this day. When writing Tomorrow When The War Began, John said he had the thought in his mind for many years about an invasion of Australia. It was such a huge thing so he decided to write it through the eyes of a small group of people “ if you were to write about Cyclone Tracey – it would be easier to write through one persons eyes or a small group of people.” In 1982, John was arrested for protesting about the building of the Franklin dam. The local jails were all full so john was sent to a high security prison in Risdon for the night. He used his experience for scenes in Letters From The Inside and The Tomorrow Series. [|www.johnmarsden.com.au] [|www.det.wa.edu.au] [|www.judyoz.com] www.abc.net.au  [|www.theblurb.com.au] JOHN MARSDEN BORN: 27TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1950 AT: MELBOURNE, VICTORIA SO MUCH TO TELL YOU- 1987 STAYING ALIVE IN YEAR FIVE – 1989 OUT OF TIME – 1990 LETTERS FROM THE INSIDE – 1991 TAKE MY WORD FOR IT – 1992 LOOKING FOR TROUBLE – 1993 COOL SCHOOL – 1996 CREEP STREET – 1996 DEAR MIFFY – 1997 NORTON’S HUT – 1998 WINTER – 2000 WHILE I LIVE – 2003 INCURABLE – 2005 CIRCLE OF FLIGHT - 2006
 * John Marsden ** is Autralias best selling author for teenagers selling over two and a half million books in Australia alone and four and a half million worldwide. John recently won the Lloyd O’Neill Award for lifelong service to the Australia book industry, one of only five authors to achieve this.
 * John ** says he falls in love with his characters when he is writing, becoming really interested in them and their lives. Writing action scenes can make him physically exhuasted afterwards. He also believes many people write too quickly and leave out details and that writers should take their time to describe things in full detail for the reader.
 * BOOKS: **