Cirrus@Austlit

Maxine McArthur's father was an engineer whose career was carried out both in Australia and oversees, resulting in several significant moves for his family. She lived in Japan for sixteen years (1980-1996), studying, working and having children before moving back to Australia. McArthur has since lived and worked in Canberra as research assistant at the Australian National University while also carving out a career as a speculative fiction writer. In addition to three novels - Time Future (1999), Time Past (2002) and Less Than Human (2004) - her work has appeared in magazines such as Aurealis and Antromedia Spaceways Inflight Magazine and in the anthologies Nor of Human (2001), Machinations (2002), Elsewhere (2003), The Outcast (2006), Daikaaiju 2 (2007) and Years Best Australian Fantasy and Horror (2010).

McArthur's activities as a writer have included appearing at the Brisbane and Tasmanian Writers Festivals, and being the recipient of a 2002 Asialink Literature Residency to Japan and a 2003 ArtsACT grant to write a children's fantasy. She has also been a Board member of the ACT Writers Centre (2004), a member of the Writers on the Rise novel critiquing group, and Special Guest at the 2005 Conflux II convention.