Marianne Curley
Marianne Curley, (born 20 May 1959) is an Australian writer of young-adult novels. She is the author of several fantasy books, including Old Magic and the three novels in the Guardians of Time series.[1] She is most popular outside of Australia,[2] and her books have been translated into several languages, including Spanish,[3] Portuguese, German and Dutch.[4]
Marianne Curley | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 20, 1959 Windsor, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Subject | Young-adult fiction |
| Spouse | John Curley |
| Website | |
| www | |
Early life change
Marianne was born in Windsor, in New South Wales. She is the youngest child of Joseph Michael and Mary Violet Mizzi.[1] She spent her early childhood living in a house along the Hawkesbury River. When a flood destroyed the property, the family moved to a small farm on the edges of Sydney.[5] Marianne developed a love for reading at an early age, and became a school librarian at the age of nine.[6] She went to high school in western Sydney.[1] The first novel that had an influence on her was Oliver Twist.[5][7]
When she was nineteen, Marianne met John Curley and married him a few months later.[5] The couple moved to Coffs Harbour and had three children.[1][6] In 1991, Curley took courses at the local TAFE college and got a certificate in word processing. In the same year, she also got a certificate in teaching from Sydney Open College. Between 1991 and 1997, she worked several part-time jobs as a teacher.[1]
Curley's first attempt at writing was a romance novel. After this was finished, she took several writing courses, but struggled to decide what she wanted to write about. She began writing young-adult novels after a conversation with her two teenaged daughters. They encouraged Curley to write something for their age group. According to Curley, it took many attempts before my writing was good enough to be published. She was rejected by publishers many times. While learning to write she taught computer studies at the TAFE college in Coffs Harbour.[1][4]
Writing change
Curley's first fantasy novel, Old Magic, was sold to the London-based Bloomsbury publishers in 2001.[1] It is about a boy with supernatural powers and a girl who helps him to control them.[8] The first book in her Guardians of Time Trilogy was published in 2002. It was called The Named, about a group of teenagers who travel through time to stop the Order of Chaos from changing the course of history. The book received positive reviews from several critics.[9] Curley signed a 12-month contract with Warner Bros. with the idea of making a television series based on the books. They hired a producer, director and paid for a script of the first episode to be written. However, the WB eventually cancelled the deal.[7] The second and third books, The Dark and The Key, were published in 2003 and 2004. Both received mixed reviews.[10][11]
Between 2004 and 2012, Curley took a long break from writing due to bad health.[5][3] She published Hidden in 2013, and began a new series called the Avena Trilogy.[12][13]
Books written change
- Old Magic
- Guardians of Time Trilogy
- Hidden
References change
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Alan Hedblad (2002), "Curley, Marianne 1959-", Something About the Author, vol. 131, Michigan: Gale, pp. 131–132, ISBN 9780787647193
- ↑ "Marianne Curley - "Hidden" Book Launch". ABC Gold Coast. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 13 June 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Javier Ruescas (April 2008). "Interview: Marianne Curley". El Templo de las Mil Puertas (3).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Stéphanie de Geus (19 February 2011). "Marianne Curley: 'Het heeft me twee jaar gekost voordat ik weer kon schrijven'". Fantasyboeken (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Diana Taboada (10 September 2012). "Vida y obra de: Marianne Curley" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 29 June 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Marianne Curley". SKOOB (in Portuguese and English). Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Marianne Curley". Supanova Pop Culture Expo. Supanova Pop Culture Industries. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ↑ Julie Long in Reading Time, Children's Book Council of Australia 45 (2: May 2001). Fergus Crow in Times Educational Supplement, 2 February 2001, p 20. Molly S. Kinney in School Library Journal, May 2002, p 148. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April 2002, p 276.
- ↑ Steven Engelfried in School Library Journal, January 2003, p 134. Tina Cavanough in Magpies: Talking About Books for Children 17 (3: July 2002). Joy Steward in Reading Time, Children's Book Council of Australia 46 (4: November 2002). Shelle Rosenfeld in Booklist, 15 November 2002, p 590. Publishers Weekly, 16 September 2002, p 69.
- ↑ Ed Sullivan in Booklist, 1 October 2003, p 310. Kirkus Reviews, 1 October 2003, p 1222. Tina Cavanough in Magpies: Talking About Books for Children 19 (1: March 2004).
- ↑ Shelle Rosenfeld in Booklist, 15 May 2005, p 1651. Susan L. Rogers in School Library Journal, January 2003, p 1651. Michael Levy in Voice of Youth Advocates, April 2005, p 54. Tina Cavanough in Magpies: Talking About Books for Children 20 (3: July 2005)
- ↑ "Works by Marianne Curley". AustLit. University of Queensland and the National Library of Australia. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
Other websites change
- Official website
- Marianne Curley at AustLit
- Profile Archived 2013-06-26 at the Wayback Machine at Bloomsbury Publishing
- Marianne Curley at the National Library of Australia