Margo Lanagan (1960-) Biography

Born 1960, in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia; Education: Studied history at universities in Perth and Sydney.

Addresses

Agent—c/o Author Mail, Allen & Unwin, 83 Alexander St., Crows Nest, New South Wales 2065, Australia.

Career

Freelance book editor, technical writer, and author.

Writings

WildGame, Allen & Unwin (North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 1991.

The Tankermen, Allen & Unwin (North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 1992.

The Best Thing, Allen & Unwin (St. Leonards, New South Wales, Australia), 1995.

Touching Earth Lightly, Allen & Unwin (St. Leonards, New South Wales, Australia), 1996.

Walking through Albert, Allen & Unwin (St. Leonards, New South Wales, Australia), 1998.

White Time (short stories), Allen & Unwin (St. Leonards, New South Wales, Australia), 2000.

Black Juice (short stories), Allen & Unwin (St. Leonards, New South Wales, Australia), 2004, Eos (New York, NY) 2005.

Treasure Hunters of Quentaris, Lothian Books (South Melbourne, New South Wales, Australia), 2004.

Sidelights

In addition to writing for children, author Margo Lanagan has worked as a freelance book editor as well as a technical writer. Growing up in the Hunter Valley and Melbourne, Australia, she traveled extensively, in addition to studying history at universities in both Perth and Sydney. The insight and experiences gained from both her travels and her education have provided the inspiration for Lanagan's children's books and short stories such as Black Juice. Praised for containing "memorable characters a-plenty" by a Kirkus Reviews critic, the collection of ten tales is a companion volume to her fantasy fiction collection White Time. "Inspiration is pretty much everywhere," Lanagan noted in an essay on the Allen & Unwin Web site. "I get it from reading both good and bad writing, from watching and listening to people, from landscapes and cityscapes, from wildlife documentaries and building sites and classrooms and music. My problem is not finding ideas but finding time to pin a few of them down to a page."

"I write because it's my way of making sense of the world," she added. "I've always loved reading, both to escape from real life and to make life more real, and I like doing both in my writing too, writing straight realistic and fantasy stories."

Lanagan features children and teens as central characters in her books "because I'm interested in what it's like to piece together the world, to make connections and realize things for the first time. And there's a lot more room for adventure in children's and teenagers' lives, before they make the decisions that will set them on their path in adulthood."