Tristan Bancks

Where were you born?

In the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. I was an ambitious, energetic kid. I loved stories, playing sport and being master of my own destiny. I was always starting a lawnmowing business, writing a book, putting on a play, running a dance party or making dodgy horror movies with my friends.

What other jobs have you had?

My main aims in life have been to do work that I love and to continue telling stories. I’ve acted in TV and film, presented TV in the UK, made short films, written for magazines and newspapers. My only taste of a real job was flipping a burger once on McHappy Day. I believe it landed on the floor.

What themes are recurring in your work?

Resilience – facing adversity and building the skills to deal with it. Family. Ethical dilemmas. Self esteeem. Truth and justice. The search for identity. Following your bliss. Breaking through fear and self-doubt. I seem to write ‘Crime-Mystery-Suspense’ and ‘Weird-Funny-Gross’.

What have been the highlights of your career?

Going to the movies with the Queen. Travelling to New York for the release of a few of my books. Seeing kids inspired to pick up a book after a talk or workshop. Heading to France with Soar, a short film I directed, and seeing it win awards. Discovering that I can spend my life writing books and speaking about them – best thing ever.

Where have your works been published?

Australia, USA, China, Russia, Turkey, Portugal and Brazil.

What are you passionate about?

Sharing my love of books and good stories. Inspiring others, especially children, to create and to dare to make mistakes. Social action. Living mindfully.

Haven’t I seen you before?

Possibly. But, if you have, you should keep it under your hat. My first job was in TV show Home And Away playing a young tearaway with a heart of gold. My character crashed cars, leapt off tall cliffs into the ocean, had many a fight, kissed Toni Pearen (his teacher!), had his head flushed by Les Hill and, generally, made Summer Bay a less pleasant holiday destination. I spent four years in the UK after that, hosting children’s TV and travel shows and learning about TV production. I white-water-rafted and snowboarded and trained with the London Fire Department and visited lots of interesting places. Since returning to Australia I have been in a couple of Ivan Sen’s movies and I’ve done a degree while writing books, making films and speaking about literacy and creativity.

In exciting news, Tristan Bancks has just released the Young Writers' StorySchool program!