Morris Gleitzman (born 9 January 1953) is an English-born Australian author of children's and

young adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

AustLit AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource (also known as AustLit: Australian Literature Gateway; and AustLit: The Resource for Australian Literature), usually referred to simply as AustLit, is an internet-based, non-profit collaboration betwee ...

He has gained recognition for sparking an interest in

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...

in his controversial novel ''

Two Weeks with the Queen ''Two Weeks with the Queen'' is a 1990 novel by Australian author Morris Gleitzman. It focuses on a boy named Colin Mudford, who is sent to live with relatives in England, while his brother is being treated for cancer. Plot summary Colin ...

'' (1990). Gleitzman has co-written many children's series with another Australian children's author, Paul Jennings. One of Gleitzman and Jennings' collaborations, the ''Wicked!'' book series, was adapted into an

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

in 2000. Gleitzman has also published three collections of his newspaper columns for ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' and ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' as books for an adult readership, and he used to write for the popular ''

Norman Gunston Norman Gunston was a satirical TV character performed by Australian actor and comedian Garry McDonald. Norman Gunston was primarily well known in his native Australia, and to a lesser extent, the United States during the mid to late 1970s. He ...

Show'' in the 1970s. His latest book in the ''Once'' series, ''Always'', was released in 2021. His is also known for his ''Toad'' series of books. In February 2018, Gleitzman was named the

Australian Children's Laureate The Australian Children's Laureate is a role appointed to an Australian children's author and/or illustrator with the purpose of promoting the power of reading to children. It is a two-year role and was inaugurated in 2011, for the 2012–2013 pe ...

for 2018/2019.

Early life

Gleitzman was born in

Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Centred on the former parish of New Sleaford, the modern boundaries and urban area include Quarrington to the south-west, Holdingham to the no ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

. He moved to Australia in 1969 when he was 16. He is married with children. His parents live in Australia

Bibliography

Books

Awards

*1993 ** BILBY Award (''Blabber Mouth'') **CROW Award (''Blabber Mouth'') *1994 **CROW Award (''Sticky Beak'') *1997 ** COOL Award (''Belly Flop'') *1998 **BILBY Award (''Bumface'') **COOL Award (''Bumface'') **KOALA Award (''Bumface'') **YABBA Award (''Bumface'') * 2001 **YABBA Award: Older Readers (''Toad Rage'') *2008 **ANTO Cole Award (''Toad Rage'') *2013 **COOL Award (''Pizza Cake'') *2016 **

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 ...

Book of the Year: Younger Readers (''Soon'')Book of the Year – Winners 2016
Children's Book Council of Australia

References

External links

*
Morris Gleitzman

Puffin Books Puffin Books is a longstanding children's imprint of the British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s, it has been among the largest publishers of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world. The imprint now belongs t ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gleitzman, Morris 1953 births Living people Australian children's writers People educated at Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School Australian people of Polish-Jewish descent English emigrants to Australia English people of Polish-Jewish descent Jewish Australian writers University of Canberra alumni