Cirrus@Austlit

Margaret Wild was born in Eshowe, a country town in South Africa. Her father was a bank manager and Wild's early life was spent frequently moving around; however, she spent a lot of time in Johannesburg and attended local state schools there.

After leaving school, she worked as a journalist on country and city newspapers, including the West Rand Times and the Johannesburg Star. In the early 1970s, she came to Australia and worked as a feature writer on several magazines including Dolly. She then completed her formal education at the Australian National University in Canberra. After returning to Sydney in 1980, she combined child rearing with freelance writing, including Cleo magazine.

From 1984 to 2000, Margaret worked as a publisher of children's books, most recently at ABC Books. Margaret is well known for beautifully crafted and moving picture book texts, with two of these winning the CBCA Picture Book of the Year Award The Very Best of Friends (1989) and Jenny Angel (1999). Several others have been Short Listed for these awards. Her books have also featured as American Library Association Notable Books.

Frequent themes include family relationships and such traumas as facing fears, experiencing death and memory loss, and suffering loss. Let the Celebrations Begin (1991), an uplifting story of children in a concentration camp, demonstrates the ability of this author to treat controversial topics with great sensitivity. Many of Australia's most outstanding picture book illustrators, including Julie Vivas, Jane Tanner, Kerry Argent, Gregory Rogers, and Ann James enhance the work of this author. Many of her works have been published overseas.