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

young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

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He has gained recognition for sparking an interest in

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

in his novel '' Two Weeks with the Queen'' (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, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

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 Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' as books for an adult readership, and he used to write for the popular '' Norman Gunston 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 for 2018/2019.

Early life

Morris was born in the town of Sleaford, Lincolnshire on 9 January 1953. He has one brother and one sister. His dad (Phillip) is an auditor, and his mum (Pamela) was a Bates employee. Morris Gleitzman attended Chislehurst & Sidcup Grammar School in Bexley, England. In 1969 when Morris was 16, he and his family moved to Sydney. In Australia he got a job as a paperboy, bottle-shop shelf-stacker, store Santa Claus, frozen chicken defroster, fashion-design assistant and sugar-mill employee. He went to The University of Canberra.

Bibliography

After university Morris worked for ten years as a screenwriter. Then he had a wonderful experience, he wrote a novel for young people.

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 A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

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

References

External links

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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 to ...

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