Nicholas Francis Ward Earls (born 8 October 1963) is a novelist from

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Australia, who writes humorous popular fiction about everyday life. The majority of his novels are set in his home town of Brisbane. He fronted a major Brisbane tourism campaign.

Biography

Earls was born on 8 October 1963 in

Newtownards Newtownards (; ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Newtow ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. He emigrated to Australia with his parents and sister at the age of nine. Living in

, he was educated at the

Anglican Church Grammar School The Anglican Church Grammar School (ACGS), formerly the Church of England Grammar School and commonly referred to as Churchie, is an independent, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, Day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in ...

there. He completed a medical degree at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

and worked as a GP before turning to writing.Silkstone, Dan
Mature face of Aussie lad lit
''

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 ...

'', 15 July 2006.

Career

Earls has been compared to

Nick Hornby Nicholas Peter John Hornby (born 17 April 1957) is an English writer. He is best known for his memoir '' Fever Pitch'' (1992) and novels ''High Fidelity'' and '' About a Boy'', all of which were adapted into feature films. Hornby's work frequen ...

. ''Zigzag Street'', his second novel, won the Betty Trask Award in 1998 (sharing with Kiran Desai's ''Hullaballoo in the Guava Orchard''). His young-adult novel, '' 48 Shades of Brown'', won the

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 Award for older readers in 2000. Several of his novels (''After January'' and ''48 Shades of Brown'') have been adapted for theatre, and ''48 Shades of Brown'' was adapted into a film entitled '' 48 Shades'', released in August 2006. Earls has also written other novels, including ''Bachelor Kisses'' (which borrows its title from a song by Brisbane band

The Go-Betweens The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster (musician), Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only co ...

), ''Perfect Skin'', ''World of Chickens'', ''The Thompson Gunner'', and young adult novels ''After January'', and ''Making Laws for Clouds''.Sunny Garden – The Official Nick Earls Website
''Sunny Garden – The Official Nick Earls Website''. 23 April 2007. Earls has also contributed to the four best-selling anthologies in the ''Girls' Night In'' series as well as ''Kids' Night In'' and ''Kids' Night in 2'' as editor. His most recent novels are ''Welcome to Normal'', a collection of original short stories, ''The True Story of Butterfish'', about a former rock star re-adjusting to mundane life in the Brisbane suburbs, and ''Monica Bloom'', based on his own adolescent experience of an ill-fated crush. Several of his books have been adapted for the stage by Brisbane's La Boite Theatre Company. He is referenced in the film '' All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane''.

Bibliography

For children

Series: Word Hunters

Short fiction

Collections

* * *

Poetry

Critical studies and reviews

* Review of ''The fix''. *Introduction to a reissue of ''The Delinquents'' by Criena Rohan, 201
Retrieved 17 October 2015

References

External links

Nick Earls – the official Nick Earls web site
*'' ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNZNgkrZU0s&list=PLrqonDHggzO9AedJor3-1E91xA6aD7OYT&index=78 Stories from the Q150 Steam Train – Nick Earls' by Nick Earls, a 3 min 56 sec video, published by

State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...

as part of Storylines:Q150 digital stories {{DEFAULTSORT:Earls, Nick 20th-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian novelists Australian male novelists Australian male short story writers 1963 births Living people People from Newtownards People educated at Anglican Church Grammar School University of Queensland alumni University of Queensland Mayne Medical School alumni Emigrants from Northern Ireland to Australia Writers from Brisbane 20th-century Australian short story writers 21st-century Australian short story writers 20th-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian male writers