Educated at the Independent Pioneer Village School, Silvey describes the experience as unusual in that it is located in Armadale's Pioneer Village which is an open-air museum "...in the style of an 1800s gold mining town with an old mine shaft".[3]
"It was certainly weird", says Silvey. "The girls had straw hats and big white socks, the boys had black cricket-style caps. Other than that it was standard private-school fare. The classes were small and the teachers great."[3]
After completing secondary education at the independent Frederick Irwin Anglican School in Mandurah[3], he eschewed going to university and took on menial labouring and cleaning jobs to support his writing.[4]
Silvey's second novel Jasper Jones was completed in early 2008 with the aid of an Australia Council for the Arts New Work Grant. The novel was described as conforming "to the conventions of Australian Gothic, which projects contemporary experience onto … dysfunctional families in small, remote towns.... where young protagonists encounter violence or death, and where outsiders are punished for their difference".[7]Jasper Jones is Silvey's most successful novel, selling well (half a million copies), and having won or been shortlisted for several prominent literary awards.[4] A film adaptation of the novel, based on a screenplay written by Silvey and Shaun Grant, was released in 2017.[8][9][10] The film was directed by Rachel Perkins and stars Toni Collette, Levi Miller, Aaron McGrath, and Angourie Rice.[11]
Silvey says of his literary influences that "I've always been attracted to Southern Gothic fiction. There's something very warm and generous about those regional American writers like Twain and Lee and Capote, and it seemed to be a literary ilk that would lend itself well to the Australian condition."[13] Australian authors Silvey admires include Shaun Tan, Markus Zusak, Christos Tsiolkas, Tim Winton and Gail Jones who he says "write such distinct, brave and beautiful books that simply render me awestruck".[14]
Runt, a film based on Silvey's novel of the same name, was released in September 2024.[15]
Personal life
As of January 2026, Silvey lives in Fremantle with his partner and three daughters.[16] He is a musician and, outside of writing novels, is a singer-songwriter who plays the electric ukulele in The Nancy Sikes!, an indie band.[17]
Arrest and legal proceedings
On 12 January 2026, police executed a search warrant at Silvey's home, where he was allegedly found "actively engaging with...child exploitation offenders online".[18] He was arrested and charged with possessing and distributing child exploitation material, and his electronic devices were seized. The prosecutor alleged that Silvey had expressed a sexual interest in children during an online conversation, that there was evidence he had provided images, and that he declined to allow investigators access to the devices.[16][19]
Silvey was granted bail in the Fremantle Magistrates Court, though he did not meet the surety bail condition and remained in custody. Magistrate Thomas Hall stated that "imprisonment is a likely outcome", though Silvey has not been convicted as of yet and is due to reappear in court on 10 February.[20]
Following the charges, Silvey's publishers Allen & Unwin and Fremantle Press announced they would cease promoting Silvey's works for the duration of legal processes.[21][22] Major Australian booksellers Dymocks, Readings and QBD removed his books from sale on their websites. Dymocks chief executive David Allen said they had "taken steps to remove any Craig Silvey titles from sale across the distribution channels of our Dymocks business". All Australian state-education departments demanded or recommended that state schools remove his books from lessons whilst legal proceedings were underway.[23]Belvoir Theatre Company, who were working on a stage adaptation of Runt formerly due to open in August 2026, announced they had "indefinitely paused work on, promotion of and sales for that production while these charges are dealt with by the police and the court".[24]
Rhubarb was selected as the inaugural book for the "One Book" series of events at the 2005 Perth International Arts Festival, and was included in the Australian national "Books Alive" campaign.
Runt won the Book of the Year and the Children's prize at the 2023 Indie Book Awards.[32] It also won the Children's book award at the 2023 BookPeople Book of the Year Awards[33] and the 2023 CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Younger Readers.[34]Runt also won the 2024 Young Australian Best Book Award for Fiction for older readers.[35]
↑Bradford, C. (2016). Prizing National and Transnational: Australian Texts in the Printz Award. In Prizing Children’s Literature (pp. 33-45). Routledge".
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