Lesley Synge changed the spelling of her name from Singh on 17 May 2006. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Queensland (2001). Her dissertation was about Lasseter, the legendary gold explorer from the 1930s, in whom she has a strong interest. Other research interests include Buddhism in traditional and Western cultures, radical politics in Queensland, 1960s-80s, and personal narratives. She has received grants from local, state and federal arts organisations, and scholarships from the University of Queensland Graduate School and from the Queensland Arts Council to Varuna, the Writers House.
Synge has taught writing at all levels of the community and has run 'Real Life Stories', a freelance business for teaching autobiography and biography. In the early 1990s she was instrumental in establishing the now-defunct community publishing house, Black Possum Publishing Co-operative in Maleny.
In response to an early manuscript of Synge's novel Cry Ma Ma to the Moon (written as Lesley Singh), Queensland visual artist Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox produced over sixty works on paper. The exhibition resulting from this collaboration was shown twice in Brisbane in 1996, first at Queensland Arts Council Gallery and then at the White Box Gallery. One of these painting is the cover for the book.
