Beloved Australian author John Marsden has died aged 74.
John Marsden was best known for his bestselling ‘Tomorrow‘ series which consisted of seven books, the first being Tomorrow When the War Began. The books sold many millions of copies and were adapted for film and television. He wrote a follow-up trilogy, ‘The Ellie Chronicles‘.
His 1987 book So Much to Tell You won the CBCA Children’s Book of the Year Award: Older Readers, the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award Alan Marshall Award, the KOALA (Kids Own Australian Literature Awards) among others, and was selected for the American Library Association list of Best Books for Young Adults 1990.
In 1996 Marsden was named ‘Australia’s most popular author today in any literary field’ by The Australian. The following year three of his books were voted into Australia’s 100 most-loved books of all time by readers.
He has a plethora of awards including in 2006 Lloyd O’Neil Award for contributions to Australian publishing. This award means that Marsden is one of only five authors to be honoured for lifelong services to the Australian book industry.
He won the Grand Jury Prize as Austria’s Most Popular Writer for Teenagers, the coveted Buxtehude Bull in Germany and was awarded the Dromkeen Medal, in recognition of his outstanding achievement in children’s and young adult literature. He was nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world’s largest children’s and youth literature award and the second largest literature prize in the world.
In 2006, Marsden started an alternative school, Candlebark School, catering for years R-12, in the Macedon Ranges of Victoria. He reduced his writing to focus on teaching and running the school. In 2016, he opened the arts-focused secondary school, Alice Miller School, also in the Macedon Ranges.
Marsden’s passion for teaching and writing changed many young lives. Through his words he inspired young people, giving many a lifelong love of reading.
He will be greatly missed.
