Maria Lewis is an author, screenwriter and pop culture commentator from Australia.

Early life and education

Lewis was born in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

on the South Island before moving to the Gold Coast,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. She started her journalism career as a teenager at the

Gold Coast Bulletin The ''Gold Coast Bulletin'' is a daily newspaper serving Australia's Gold Coast region. It is published as ''The Gold Coast Bulletin'' on weekdays and the ''Weekend Bulletin'' at weekends. It is owned by News Corp Australia. History The ...

, covering crime and general news. Her work on pop culture has appeared in publications such as

Empire Magazine ''Empire'' is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. The first issue was published in May 1989. History David Hepworth of Emap, the publisher of British music magazines '' Q'' and ''Smash Hits'', among other titles ...

Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building * ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly under a flat-roof, tha ...

Junkee Junkee is an Australian popular culture and news website run by new media company Junkee Media. It covers various topics including film, university, food, TV, politics, travel, career, health and Internet culture. Its target demographic is 18- to ...

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

i09 ''io9'' is part of Gizmodo media since 2015, and it began as blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The site initially focused on the subjects of science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and related areas but over the years ha ...

, The Daily and

Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph'', also published by the Telegraph ...

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. ...

, and others.

Career

Lewis was known for her role as a panelist, presenter, writer and producer on SBS

Viceland Viceland (stylized in all caps), and Vice TV in the United States, are brands used for television channels owned and programmed by Vice Media. Viceland launched on February 29, 2016, with two branded cable channels; the American version (rebra ...

's nightly news program The Feed and is an ambassador for the Australian Stroke Foundation after surviving a

Transient ischemic attack A transient ischemic attack (TIA), commonly known as a mini-stroke, is a minor stroke whose noticeable symptoms usually end in less than an hour. TIA causes the same symptoms associated with strokes, such as weakness or numbness on one side of ...

(TIA) when she was twenty-two. She was the writer, researcher, host and producer of audio documentaries Josie and the Podcats - which looked at the 2001 cult film, Josie and the Pussycats - and The Phantom Never Dies - about the world’s first superhero,

The Phantom ''The Phantom'' is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The ch ...

. Lewis won the 2022 Audio - Non-Fiction

AWGIE Award The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967. The awards are judged by over 50 writers, most of whom are previou ...

for episode two of the series - ''The Phantom Never Dies: ‘Fantomen’'' - and silver at the Australian Podcast Awards for Best Arts & Culture program, along with a nomination for Presenter Of The Year at the Radio Today Podcast Awards. She primarily works as a screenwriter for film and television, including projects for AMC, Netflix, SBS, Ubisoft, ABC, Stan, DC Comics, and has curated seasons at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image on

Creature From The Black Lagoon ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' is a 1954 American black-and-white 3D monster horror film produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold, from a screenplay by Harry Essex and Arthur Ross and a story by Maurice Zimm. It stars ...

, Aussie neo-noir (titled ''Yeah Noir''), Australian rom-coms (''Yeah The Girls'') and cult classics like

Birds Of Prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predato ...

, Candyman and Mad Max: Fury Road (''ACMI Watches''). Her Aurealis Award and Ditmar Award-nominated short story ''The House That Hungers'' was adapted into a 2023 short film starring Kimie Tsuakoshi in the lead role, with Lewis serving as writer, director, and producer.

Writing

Lewis is the author of several award-winning books and short stories. Her debut novel Who's Afraid? was published globally in 2015 and kickstarted the eight-book Supernatural Sisters series which "examined the feminine grotesque and the idea of female monsters". It featured a different type of classic mythological monster as the main character of each story, with characters and timelines overlapping before the finale, Her Fierce Creatures, which was published in 2022. The series was nominated for several awards, including an

Aurealis Award The Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award. History The Aurealis Award was established in 1995 ...

in 2018 for Best Horror Novel for Who's Afraid Too?, an Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel for The Wailing Woman in 2020 - about a family of

banshee A banshee ( ; Modern Irish , from sga, ben síde , "woman of the fairy mound" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or keening. Her name is ...

sisters - and The Rose Daughter in 2022 respectively. Her fourth book, The Witch Who Courted Death, won the

for Best Fantasy Novel in 2019. Lewis' first crime-fiction novel - The Graveyard Shift - was acquired by Angry Robot and announced on Halloween 2022, with

The Bookseller ''The Bookseller'' is a British magazine reporting news on the publishing industry. Philip Jones is editor-in-chief of the weekly print edition of the magazine and the website. The magazine is home to the ''Bookseller''/Diagram Prize for Oddest ...

calling it “slasher-crime for the millennial generation”. She told the publication: “The Graveyard Shift is the realisation of a lifelong dream of mine: to write a

slasher Slasher may refer to: * Slasher (basketball), a style of play in basketball * Slasher film, a subgenre of the horror film * Slasher (tool), a scrub-clearing implement * ''Slasher'' (2004 film), a 2004 documentary film * ''Slasher'' (2007 film) ...

". She was named as the author of Mockingbird: Strike Out, a new novel from Marvel featuring

S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in ''Strange Tales'' #135 (August 1965), it often deal ...

Agent and super-spy

Bobbi Morse Barbara "Bobbi" Morse is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in ''Astonishing Tales'' #6 in 1971 in comics, 1971 as a supporting character and eventual love interest of ...

. The novel is due for publication in 2023 and sees her team up with

S.T.R.I.K.E. S.T.R.I.K.E., an acronym for Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies, is a fictional counter-terrorism and intelligence agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The organization often deals with su ...

Lance Hunter Lancelot "Lance" Hunter is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in '' Captain Britain Weekly'' #19 (February 16, 1977) and was created by writer Gary Friedrich and artist Herb Tri ...

following her divorce from Clint Barton aka Hawkeye.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Mockingbird: Strike Out'' (Lewis: June 6, 2023: Aconyte) * ''The Graveyard Shift'' (Lewis: October 10, 2023, Angry Robot) Supernatural Sisters * ''Who's Afraid?'' - Supernatural Sisters #1 (Lewis: December 12, 2015: Hachette Australia) (Lewis: July 14, 2016: Piatkus UK) * ''Who's Afraid Too?'' - Supernatural Sisters #2 (Lewis: Jan 21, 2017: Hachette Australia) (Lewis: July 14, 2017: Piatkus UK) * ''It Came From The Deep'' - Supernatural Sisters #3 (Lewis: October 21, 2017: IngramSpark) *''The Witch Who Courted Death'' - Supernatural Sisters #4 (Lewis: October 31, 2018: Hachette Australia) (Lewis: March 9, 2019: Piatkus UK) *''The Wailing Woman'' - Supernatural Sisters #5 (Lewis: November 1, 2019: Hachette Australia) (Lewis: March 9, 2020: Piatkus UK) *''Who's Still Afraid?'' - Supernatural Sisters #6 (Lewis: October 21, 2020: IngramSpark) *''The Rose Daughter'' - Supernatural Sisters #7 (Lewis: April 6, 2021: Hachette Australia) (Lewis: October 21, 2021: Piatkus UK) *''Her Fierce Creatures'' - - Supernatural Sisters #8 (Lewis: March 13, 2022: Hachette Australia) (Lewis: October 4, 2022: Piatkus UK)

Short Stories

* ''Hot Stuff: Surfing Love'' (Caruso, Lewis, Sinclair. Woods: Jan 1, 2016: HarperCollins Publishers Australia) * ''Doing It: A Sex Positive Anthology'' (Pickering, Ford, Lewis et al: August 29, 2016: University Of Queensland Press) * ''And Then... The Great Big Book Of Awesome Adventure Tales: Volume 2'' (Goodman, Lewis, Nette et al.: August 7, 2017: Clan Destine Press) *''Tales From Kayfabia: The Unfortunate Origins of

Jimmy Havoc James McAhren (born 19 March 1984) is a British former professional wrestler best known under the ring name Jimmy Havoc. He is known for his work with Progress Wrestling, Defiant Wrestling, Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), Major League ...

Audio Short Story'' (Lewis: November 2, 2018: Conco and the Fudge) *''The Otherworld Sister -'' Supernatural Sisters #4.5 (Lewis: September 21, 2020: IngramSpark) *''The House That Hungers'' (Lewis: November 13, 2021: Aurealis #146) *''Damnation Games'' (Baxter, Lee, Anderton, Lewis et al: November 1, 2022: Clan Destine Press)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Maria Living people 21st-century Australian women writers Australian women short story writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers Australian people of Māori descent People from the Gold Coast, Queensland People from Arrowtown 21st-century Australian short story writers Year of birth missing (living people)