One of Australia's, and now the world's, best-known and loved children's authors, Morris Gleitzman tackles tough subjects in a funny and offbeat way . He has never set out to write "issues books" and says that his writing is as much for himself as for his readers.

THE BASICS

Born: Sleaford, Lincolnshire, January 9th 1953

Jobs: Paperboy, Shelf-Stacker, Department Store Santa Claus, Frozen Chicken Defroster, Assistant to Fashion Designer, Rolling-Stock Unhooker in a Sugar Mill, TV Comedy Writer, Magazine Columnist

Lives: Victoria

First Book: The Other Facts of Life, 1985

THE BOOKS

When the Gleitzman family left England for Australia, 16 year-old Morris had already dropped out of school to live the hippie dream. Once in Sydney, he embarked on a series of "fairly menial things" (see above) before cramming his A-level equivalents into a year and gaining a degree in Professional Writing at Canberra College of Advanced Education. He joined ABC TV as a promotions writer, but soon began writing comedy scripts for the top-rated Norman Gunston Show. Morris became one of Australia's best known TV writers and went on to write a number of feature films and TV screenplays. These included The Other Facts of Life, originally written as a film for the Children's Television Foundation. When Morris decided to write a novel version of this, his publishing career began. The cross-fertilisation between scripts and novels continued (in reverse) with Morris' second novel Two Weeks With The Queen. This was adapted into a play and successfully staged around the world (In 1995, Alan Ayckbourn directed the London production at the National Theatre). With two novels in print, Morris says "I began to see myself as an author." Already, the hallmarks of a Gleitzman novel were in place - tough subjects presented in a funny and offbeat way. Those characteristics run through all of Gleitzman's work, from Misery Guts and Second Childhood, to Bumface and Wicked! – the multi-part novel Morris wrote jointly with Australia's other top children's author Paul Jennings. The prolific Mr Gleitzman has also become one of Australia's best-known columnists, writing firstly TV reviews and then a semi-autobiographical column for the Sydney Morning Herald; UK readers have enjoyed a taste of these writings in Young Telegraph.

WHAT HE SAYS...

"My stories are about relationships between kids and adults marked by love, conflict and anxiety. The characters reflect different parts of my own self. I was an anxious younger person, given to panic attacks. Writing comic scripts helped, but it was when I allowed myself to speak through my 11 and 12 year-old characters that I felt as though I had discovered a process that made me feel good about life."

"My books are co-written by me the adult and me the child and, as always happens between adults and children, there is a conflict there and my books are very much the product of that conflict."

"Perhaps (the) combination of serious subject and sadness and humour may come from the fact that I'm looking for the moment that is the biggest problem in the character's life."

"I’m interested in exploring a heroism that's about perseverence, not escaping or denial or bitterness or bigotry. It's the heroism of staying optimistic and continuing to struggle. Heroism for me is striving to overcome problems in the knowledge that they may never be overcome."

"I can't remember much of my childhood. Just the best bits (books, corned beef and scoring goals) and the worst bits (sties, rhubarb and a stiff hamster)."

"I read every book I could get my hands on. Classics, westerns, Enid Blyton, soccer star biographies, Richmal Crompton's Just William series (my favourites) and recipe books (particularly the corned beef sections)."

"My idea of a top day would be listening to Van Morrison in a forest halfway up a mountain with a glass of red wine in one hand and a plate of oysters in the other and 5000 paper clips in my rucksack."

"Sometimes I think dreams are stories trying to get out. I've often found that if I go to sleep thinking about a problem I'm having with a story I'm trying to write, I'll wake up in the morning with the problem solved."

WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT MORRIS GLEITZMAN...

"A master of the tragicomic novel." Books For Keeps

"Morris Gleitzman has written some of the best children's books around." Young Telegraph

“Joyfully entertaining… this is Gleitzman’s best yet.” TES on Bumface

“This is one of the funniest, most original novels young people over 10 are ever likely to encounter.” Tony Bradman, Daily Telegraph

“Boys coping is a rare enough theme; Morris Gleitzman treats it with intelligent and tender insight.” Julia Eccleshare, The Guardian on Bumface

“Morris Gleitzman’s latest is a winner…Bumface is the most funny, truthful and affecting book I’ve read for some time. I began it with delight and finished it laughing aloud. It’s a joy.” Philip Pullman, The Guardian

“Funny and poignant at the same time… its opening scene deserves to become an instant classic.” Nick Tucker, The Independent on Bumface

"Behind the slapstick humour, lots of profound and important issues are also explored." Northern Echo on The Other Facts of Life

"Very funny." Sainsbury's The Magazine on The Other Facts of Life

"A gem of a book, very Australian (embarrassingly un-British) in its wide-open emotions." The Guardian on Two Weeks With The Queen

"An extraordinary read with a joyous ending of sorts." The Listener on Two Weeks With The Queen

"To write a funny book which includes a child dying of cancer and a youth of AIDS looks to be not only impossible but in dubious taste as well. Gleitzman shows otherwise." The Times on Two Weeks With The Queen

"Consistently amusing." Junior Bookshelf on Worry Warts

"Misery Guts is a thoroughly enjoyable read." School Librarian

"They zip along at breakneck speed, cliff-hanger following gobsmacking shock and on to the next cliff-hanger, leaving the reader breathless and wanting more of the same, please." Publishing News on the Wicked! series