'Simon Cleary, author of The Comfort of Figs (2008), grew up in a house in Toowoomba overlooking an enormous Moreton Bay Fig tree. Between 1986 and 1991 Cleary studied Arts (majoring in literature) and Law at the University of Queensland, . Following university he worked for many years as a public interest lawyer, including at Redfern Legal Centre in Sydney, and with the Legal Aid office in Queensland. He has recently returned to Brisbane after spending four years in Melbourne.
In 2006 Simon was Emerging Writer-in-Residence at the Queensland Writers' Centre.' (Biography provided by author).