Jonathan Harlen

Last updated

Jonathan Harlen
Jonathan Harlen .jpg
Jonathan Harlen
Born Christchurch, New Zealand
OccupationWriter

Jonathan Harlen is a New Zealand-born author, academic and musician now resident in Australia. He has published more than 30 novels for adults, young adults, and children. He has won numerous awards for young adult fiction including the Wilderness Society Literature Award, [1] the NSW Office of Multicultural Affairs Literature Award,[ citation needed ] the Australian Association of Family Therapists Book Award, [2] and the Royal Society for the Blind Talking Book Award. His novels have twice been recognised as Notable Books by the Children's Book Council of Australia, [3] and have been published in nine countries.

Contents

Early life

Harlen was born in Wellington, and attended Wellington College, and Victoria University of Wellington, where he majored in English and political science. He completed his final year of university study in Jerusalem, Israel, after falling in love with an Israeli girl. He settled in Australia in 1986, where he worked initially as a journalist. He wrote comedy for radio station Triple J for two years and played in a variety of blues and rock bands before turning to writing fiction.

Literary career

Harlen was the recipient of a Fellowship from the Australia Council for the Arts in 1996 [4] In the same year a play based on his novel The Lion And the Lamb toured high schools in Victoria. He has been Writer-in-Residence at Dromkeen, Brisbane Grammar School, Ipswich Grammar School, Essendon Grammar School, Knox Grammar School, Mitchelton State High School, Tin Can Bay High School, and the Fremantle Arts Centre. He has spoken and given workshops at many schools and literature festivals throughout Australia.

Several of his childrens books have been bestsellers. In the 1990s and early 2000s his young adult novels regularly featured as set texts for Year 7-9 English students in Victoria and New South Wales. His work has been published in Italy, Denmark, South Korea, France, the United Kingdom, The USA, Canada and New Zealand.

In October 2017 Harlen was artist in residence at Southern Cross University, Lismore, New South Wales.

Music

Harlen in 2021 Jonathan biopic square.jpg
Harlen in 2021

in 2020 Harlen released an album of contemporary folk rock music,Field of Dreams, under the pseudonym Jack Straw. The album features eight of Harlen's original songs and explores a number of genres including blues, folk, roots, and folk rock. Fellow band members include Matt Day (guitar), James Pattugalan (drums) and Luke Ferguson (bass). A song from the album, Whispery Grey, was a finalist in the Australian Songwriters Association (ASA) Folk Song of the Year competition in 2021. Harlen continues to gig solo, mainly in the Northern NSW region.

Phd

in December 2021 Harlen received his Doctorate of Philosophy in Law from Southern Cross University for a thesis entitled "Woven Law: Te Nakahi and the Re-Storying of Sovereignty in Aotearoa/New Zealand". He has lectured in law at Southern Cross University since 2019 and maintains a research interest in legal pluralism and Treaty of Waitangi issues.[ when? ]

Awards and honours

Published works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian literature</span> Field of literature from Canada

Canadian literature is the literature of a multicultural country, written in languages including Canadian English, Canadian French, and Indigenous languages. Influences on Canadian writers are broad both geographically and historically, representing Canada's diversity in culture and region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice Gee</span> New Zealand novelist (born 1931)

Maurice Gough Gee is a New Zealand novelist. He is one of New Zealand's most distinguished and prolific authors, having written over thirty novels for adults and children, and has won numerous awards both in New Zealand and overseas, including multiple top prizes at the New Zealand Book Awards, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in the UK, the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, the Robert Burns Fellowship and a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement. In 2003 he was recognised as one of New Zealand's greatest living artists across all disciplines by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, which presented him with an Icon Award.

Paul Jennings AM, is an English-born Australian writer for children, young adults and adults. He is best known for his short stories that lead the reader through an unusual series of events and end with a twist. Many of his stories were adapted for the cult classic children's television series Round the Twist. Jennings collaborated with Morris Gleitzman on the book series Wicked!, which was adapted into an animated TV series in 2000, and Deadly!.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Winton</span> Australian writer

Timothy John Winton is an Australian writer. He has written novels, children's books, non-fiction books, and short stories. In 1997, he was named a Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia, and has won the Miles Franklin Award four times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mandy Hager</span> New Zealand writer

Amanda Hager is a writer of fiction and non-fiction for children, young adults and adults. Many of her books have been shortlisted for or won awards, including Singing Home the Whale which won both the Young Adult fiction category and the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults in 2015. She has been the recipient of several fellowships, residencies and prizes, including the Beatson Fellowship in 2012, the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship in 2014, the Waikato University Writer in Residence in 2015 and the Margaret Mahy Medal and Lecture Award in 2019.

Jennifer June Rowe,, is an Australian author. Her crime fiction for adults is published under her own name, while her children's fiction is published under the pseudonyms Emily Rodda and Mary-Anne Dickinson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celia Rees</span> English author

Celia Rees is an English author.

Tohby Riddle is an Australian artist and writer/illustrator of picture books and illustrated books that have been published in many countries, and translated into many languages, around the world. His work has been translated by Haruki Murakami and he has been nominated for the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Medal.

Jeannie Baker is an English-born Australian children's picture book author and artist, known for her collage illustrations and her concern for the natural environment. Her books have won many awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ursula Dubosarsky</span> Australian writer

Ursula Dubosarsky is an Australian writer of fiction and non-fiction for children and young adults, whose work is characterised by a child's vision and comic voice of both clarity and ambiguity. She has won nine national literary prizes, including five New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, more than any other writer in the Awards' 30-year history. She was appointed the Australian Children's Laureate for 2020–2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Libby Hathorn</span> Australian childrens writer

Elizabeth Helen Hathorn is an Australian writer for children, and a poet who works with schools, institutions and communities. She has received many awards for her books, some of which have been translated into several languages. In 2001 she was awarded a Centenary Medal for her contribution to children's theatre. In 2014 she was awarded the Alice Award for her contribution to Australian literature. In 2017 she won the Asher Peace Prize and in 2022 the ABIA Pixie O'Harris Award for excellence and dedication to children's literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharon M. Draper</span> American childrens writer and educator

Sharon Mills Draper is an American children's writer, professional educator, and the 1997 National Teacher of the Year. She is a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award for books about the young and adolescent African-American experience. She is known for her Hazelwood and Jericho series, Copper Sun,Double Dutch, Out of My Mind and Romiette and Julio.

The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry, and the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nadia Wheatley</span> Australian writer

Nadia Wheatley is an Australian writer whose work includes picture books, novels, biography and history. Perhaps best known for her classic picture book My Place, the author's biography of Charmian Clift was described by critic Peter Craven as 'one of the greatest Australian biographies'. Another book by Wheatley is A Banner Bold, a historical novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamela Freeman</span> Australian writer

Pamela Freeman is an Australian author of books for both adults and children. Most of her work is fantasy but she has also written mystery stories, science fiction, family dramas and non-fiction. Her first adult series, the Castings Trilogy is published globally by Orbit Books. She is best known in Australia for the junior novel Victor’s Quest and an associated series, the Floramonde books, and for The Black Dress: Mary MacKillop’s Early Years, which won the NSW Premier's History Prize in 2006.

Arnold Zable is an Australian writer, novelist, storyteller and human rights advocate. His books include the memoir Jewels and Ashes, three novels: Café Scheherazade, Scraps of Heaven, and Sea of Many Returns, two collections of stories: The Fig Tree and Violin Lessons, and The Fighter. His most recent book, The Watermill, was published in March 2020.

Maxine Beneba Clarke is an Australian writer of Afro-Caribbean descent, whose work includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry. She is the author of over 14 books for children and adults.

Felicity Castagna is an Australian writer. She won the young adult fiction prize at the 2014 Prime Minister's Literary Awards for her book, The Incredible Here and Now and the 2022 Writing for Young Adults Victorian Premier's Literary Awards for her book, Girls in Boys' Cars.

References

  1. ↑ "Environment Award for Children's Literature – Previous Years – The Wilderness Society". Wilderness.org.au. 21 June 2001. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  2. ↑ "Australian Family Therapist's Award – Book awards – LibraryThing". Librarything.com. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "CBCA Notable Books – Older Readers – Book awards – LibraryThing". Librarything.com. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  4. ↑ "I have pleasure in presenting to you, under Section 38" (PDF). Australiancouncil.gov.au. 26 September 1997. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.