A Brief Introduction to Australia’s Most Famous Children’s Authors — Shaun Tan and Sonya Hartnett
Pete Werner
Ms. Nithya Sivashankar
EDUTL 2368
April 18, 2019
werner.220
After having read two good Australian novels, The Arrival by Shaun Tan and Cuz by Liz Van Der Laarse, I became interested in children’s works coming out of Australia. As I researched, two prominent names continually emerged — Shaun Tan (previously mentioned) and Sonya Hartnett. I supposed the reason I became keenly interested is because I read an article from The Melbourne City of Literature website which stated, “Ours [city of Melbourne] is the only city in the world which boasts two winners of the Astrid Lindgren Award — the world’s most lucrative and prestigious literary prize awarded to a creator for a body of work” (“Children’s Literature” web). This award honors an author’s contribution to International children’s literature (“About Me” web). Wow. I never thought of Melbourne, Australia as being a literary hub in the world, so I decided to research a little more about these famous authors.
Shaun Tan was born and raised in Perth, Western Australia and studied at the University of Western Australia in 1995, majoring in English literature and fine arts. As a teen, he began punishing science fiction and horror stories with accompanying drawings in a small magazine (“About Me” web). His first big break happened in 1990 when he was able to publish an illustration in Aurealis, which is a magazine. He prefers to draw in black and white, using inks, charcoal, photocopies, pens, acrylics, and linocuts. Throughout his career, he has won forty-five awards between being an author and illustrator (“Home” web). Two of his more famous works, The Arrival and The Lost Thing, have common themes of displacement or isolation. Tan was asked in an interview why he seemed to focus on that theme and if he felt disconnected as times. He replied, “I just find myself strongly attracted, in an empathetic way, to images of isolated figures moving through vast, often confounding landscapes….individuality needs to be endless negotiated, that we are always trying to figure out how we connect to the things around us” (Jordan web). I found Tan’s book The Arrival mesmerizing with bizarre surroundings as a father, alone in a new existence, tries and succeeds in making his way and connecting.
Another incredibly talented author from Melbourne is Sonya Hartnett (sometimes under the pseudonym Cameron S. Redfern). She was almost considered a child prodigy since she wrote her first novel at age thirteen and was published at fifteen. Most of her works focus on the middle grades, but she, like Tan, is considered a crossover writer, having her works like Golden Boys and Children of the King enjoyed by adults as well (“Sonya Hartnett (Author of Surrender)” web). Hartnett’s interview revealed some interesting facts about her life and career. She states that she did not really want to be a writer. “I only wanted to do something I wasn’t completely hopeless at” (“Interviews” web). She writes in silence on a laptop which lying on her bed, surrounded by her pets, coffee and chocolate.
About Me, www.shauntan.net/about.html.
“Children’s Literature.” Melbourne – City of Literature, cityofliterature.com.au/explore/childrens-literature.
“Home.” Biography, Books and Facts, www.famousauthors.org/shaun-tan.
“Interviews.” Sonya Hartnett, www.sonyahartnett.com.au/interviews.html.
Jordan , Mitchell. “‘An Interview with Shaun Tan.’” Bookslut, June 2009, www.bookslut.com/features/2009_07_014748.php.
“Sonya Hartnett (Author of Surrender).” Goodreads, Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/author/show/138742.Sonya_Hartnett.
Tan, Shaun. The Arrival. Lothian Books: Australian and New Zealand. 2006.
Van Der Laarse, Liz. Cuz. OneTree House Ltd: Wickliffe, Auckland, New Zealand. 2018.