AUTHOR

Born in Brisbane in 1972, Nerida Newton knew she wanted to be a writer as soon as she could hold a pencil. Subsequently, she spent her entire suburban childhood reading anything she could get her hands on.

Nerida studied journalism and literature before setting off for almost a decade of world travel, during which she wrote mainly in journals, on the back of beer mats and in the columns of dissused maps. On returning to Australia, she remained unsettled and felt an increasing sense of displacement, despite being in her home country.

The feeling of estrangement from the dominant culture and politics of Australia prompted her to research stories of immigrants and travellers, and reulted in the topic of her first novel. She wrote THE LAMBING FLAT during a Masters degree in Philosophy at the University of Queensland. It went on to win the 2002 Queensland Premier's Award for an Emerging Author and was shortlisted for The Australian/Vogel award the same year and the 2004 "One Book, One Brisbane" campaign.

Nerida was the 2004 Sydney Morning Heralds' 'Young Writer of the Year'. Her second novel, still being written, is set in the Byron Bay region of Northern NSW and encompasses the decade between the end of whaling in the 1960s and the Aquarius festival in the early 1970s. She is presently teaching creative writing at the University of Queensland and is available for presentation and workshops with secondary students.

Visit Nerida's website at www.neridanewton.com