Michael Hyde

Author, Social Commentator, Curriculum Specialist, Journalist

Michael Hyde has written for kids, teens and YA for 30 years. He has twenty five published books, mostly fiction, but also several English and Writing texts.

Where were you born?

I was born in the coal mining town of Cessnock in NSW. We moved to Victoria in 1954. I attended five schools – we moved around a fair bit due to my father being a Uniting Church minister.

What other jobs have you had?

Journalist, truck driver, hospital cleaner, hospital orderly and was a secondary teacher for over twenty five years. Now, lecture in Prof Writing at Victoria University.

What themes are recurring in your work?

Young men living on the edge; the deeper levels of sport; war; the 60s; the strange experience of being a human being.

What are you passionate about?

Fairness, equity, standing up against prejudice, racism, war, looking underneath the surface – oh yes I love footy, especially Collingwood.

Anything else you’d like to share with us?

My memoir All along the Watchtower will be one of the few books ever published in Australian Literature examining the 60s through the eyes of someone who was there. Film options have been taken out on Watchtower and Hey Joe.