Sue Saliba

Author

Sue Saliba is the prize-winning author of novels for Young Adults. She has taught English at secondary school, Novel Writing at RMIT and Creative Writing at Melbourne University.

Where were you born?

I began life in an outer western suburb in Melbourne filled with unmade roads, the skeletons of new houses and paddocks filled with thistles. Later I moved with my family to Footscray but my heart was always back with the secret creek and caves and adventures of my earliest childhood.

What other jobs have you had?

Apart from writing, I’ve been an English teacher at secondary schools in Melbourne and Thailand as well as a Creative Writing tutor at University. I’ve also been a greyhound walker, guinea pig sitter and unpaid bird rescuer

What themes are recurring in your work?

My novels explore relationships, particularly between girls and often within families. They deal with the issues of loss, identity and love. Lately they have been concerned with the natural world, especially with animals and our compassion towards them. The exploration of language is also important in my work.

What have been the highlights of your career?

In 2009, I was awarded the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Young Adult Fiction for my novel, Something in the World Called Love. Other highlights have included teaching Novel Writing at RMIT and Creative Writing at Melbourne University.

Anything else you’d like to share with us?

My new Young Adult novel, Alaska, will be published in mid 2011 by Penguin.