Judith Rossell

Author, Illustrator

Judith Rossell created the best-selling, award-winning Stella Montgomery series (Withering-by-Sea, Wormwood Mire and Wakestone Hall) and her new middle-grade novel, The Midwatch, will be published in 2024. She has written 16 books and illustrated more than 80. She enjoys sharing her love of illustrating and writing, and encouraging others to create their own characters and stories. 

Where were you born?

I was born in Melbourne, but I grew up right on the edge of the city. We were so far out of town we had sheep living next door.

What other jobs have you had?

I’ve worked as a scientist. (Not a mad scientist, a normal kind of scientist), and I’ve also worked in a hardware store (I was very bad at this job), and for a cotton spinning company, where we made strings for tea bags and yarn for t-shirts and towels and mops.

What themes are recurring in your work?

I like writing books about adventure and history with extra little bits of fantasy, scariness and humour. I really enjoy creating stories that are told with words and pictures together. 

What have been the highlights of your career?

I was awarded a writing residency from the Heidelberg UNESCO City of Literature, in Germany, where I got to live in part of a ruined castle in a village in a forest for 3 months. It was fabulous.

I also was invited to speak at the Bookoroo Festival, in New Delhi in India,  and then talk to kids in Chandigarh and Mumbai, which was a wonderful experience.

A big career highlight for me was when my book Withering-by-Sea won a bunch of awards. I have a row of trophies on a shelf in my house. As a kid, I wasn’t the kind of person who won trophies at all, so that was a nice surprise.

Where have your works been published?

My books have been published in 18 languages. It seems amazing to me that kids all around the world might be reading my stories.

Haven’t I seen you before?

Perhaps you have? I’ve done talks and workshops at a lot of schools and libraries all around Australia, as well as some big festivals. I also teach at RMIT and at the Australian Writers’ Centre.