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Alison Croggon Alison Croggon i(A11768 works by)
Born: Established: 1962 Transvaal,
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South Africa,
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Southern Africa, Africa,
;
Gender: Female
Heritage: South African
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BiographyHistory

Born in Carlton, Transvaal, South Africa, Alison Croggon moved as a child to England in 1966 and to Australia in 1969, growing up near Ballarat and later moving to Melbourne. She has written poetry, plays, libretti, translations and criticism, an adult novel and fantasy novels for young adults. She has had a number of stage works produced, including operas for which she wrote the libretti ('The Burrow', 'Gauguin' and 'The White Army' with Michael Smetanin) and several of her poems have also been set to music. She also wrote the lyrics for the songs used in Deidre Rubinstein's 'Confidentially Yours'.

She was poetry editor for Overland Extra (1992), Modern Writing (1992-1994) and Voices (National Library of Australia, 1996) and was founding editor of Masthead literary arts magazine. In November 2002, she participated in the UK Poetry International Festival at Royal Festival Hall in London.

In 2003, she was the organiser of the Australian wing of Poets Against the War, collecting poems which were delivered to the Prime Minister Mr Howard in protest against the impending war against Iraq. The 2009 Geraldine Pascall Critic of the Year, she is the co-founder of website Witness Performance, a critical website for the performing arts.

Most Referenced Works

Personal Awards

2023 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The NSW Premier's Prize for Translation for 'Duino Elegies'.
2020 recipient Australia Council Grants, Awards and Fellowships Arts Projects for Individuals and Groups  $30,000
2019 recipient State Library Victoria Fellowship Creative Fellowship

for ‘The Spell that Worked’ (working title)—a middle-grade novel in the form of a magical adventure story exploring class and politics in Australia during the Great Depression, set in Melbourne’s lively theatre district

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Monsters Monsters : A Reckoning Melbourne : Scribe , 2021 20519145 2021 single work autobiography essay
2021 longlisted Mark and Evette Moran Nib Award for Literature
y separately published work icon The Bone Queen Melbourne : Penguin , 2016 8910336 2016 single work novel fantasy

'Cadvan of Lirigon, once the most brilliant young Bard of his generation, is exiled for a terrible crime which caused the death of his lover, Ceredin, and the serious injury of his rival, Dernhil of Gent. Racked by guilt and self-contempt, he flees to a poor mining village, seeking a new life as a humble cobbler. His exile is broken when Dernhil tracks him down, with the news that the evil Cadvan unwittingly loosed on Annar, the revenant Bone Queen, is stalking Lirigon. Together the Bards must save not only the living, but also the dead. But can Dernhil forgive the injury that Cadvan caused him? And can Cadvan ever forgive himself?

'Critically acclaimed fantasy author Alison Croggon returns to Pellinor with The Bone Queen, a prequel to the events described in the popular Books of Pellinor quartet. The Bone Queen tells the story of Cadvan‘s struggle for redemption, as the Dark begins its quest to destroy the Bards of Annar.' (Source: Author website)

2016 shortlisted Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction Young Adult Division Novel
y separately published work icon The River and the Book Newtown : Walker Books Australia , 2015 8300345 2015 single work novel young adult fable

'From the internationally bestselling author of The Books of Pellinor comes a powerful story about the exploitation of indigenous people by the First World. In Simbala's village they have two treasures: the River, which is their road and their god; and the Book, which is their history, their oracle and their soul. Simbala is a Keeper of the Book, the latest in a long line of women who can use it to find answers to the villagers' questions. As developers begin to poison the River on which the villagers rely, the Book predicts change. But this does not come in the form that they expect; it is the sympathetic Westerner that comes to the village who inflicts the greatest damage of all.' (Publication summary)

2016 shortlisted Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Young Adults
2016 winner The Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children's Literature Fiction
2016 CBCA Book of the Year Awards Notable Book Older Readers
Last amended 15 May 2020 12:52:27
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