Morris Gleitzman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Morris Gleitzman | |
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| Born | 9 January 1953 Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | British |
| Notable work(s) | The Toad series |
Morris Gleitzman (born January 9, 1953)[1] is an Australian writer. He is one of Australia's most successful writers.[2]
Gleitzman has also gained recognition for sparking an interest in politically-controversial children's books. Some funny and politically-controversial books include Two Weeks with the Queen, Second Childhood, Other Facts of Life, Misery Guts, Blabber Mouth, Worry Warts, Puppy Fat, Belly Flop, Water Wings, Toad Rage, Toad Heaven, Toad Away, Boy Overboard, Sticky Beak, Gift of the Gab, Adult's Only, Bumface, Teacher's Pet, Girl Underground, Worm Story, Once, Aristotle's Nostril and Doubting Thomas.[3]
He has collaborated on children's series with another Australian children's author, Paul Jennings. Gleitzman has also published three collections of his newspaper columns for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald into books for an adult readership. He used to write for the popular Norman Gunston Show in the 1970s.[4] As of 2007, his latest book is Give Peas A Chance and Other Funny Stories. His most successful books/trilogy are the Toad series.[5]
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[edit] History
When the Gleitzman family left England for Australia, 16 year-old Morris had already dropped out of school to live the hippie dream. Once in Sydney, he embarked on a series of "fairly menial things" before cramming his A-level equivalents into a year and gaining a degree in Professional Writing at Canberra College of Advanced Education. He joined ABC TV as a promotions writer, but soon began writing comedy scripts for the top-rated Norman Gunston Show. Morris became one of Australia's best known TV writers and went on to write a number of feature films and TV screenplays.[6] These included The Other Facts of Life, originally written as a film for the Children's Television Foundation.[7] When Morris decided to write a novel version of this, his publishing career began. The cross-fertilisation between scripts and novels continued (in reverse) with Morris' second novel Two Weeks With The Queen. This was adapted into a play and successfully staged around the world (In 1995, Alan Ayckbourn directed the London production at the National Theatre). With two novels in print, Morris says "I began to see myself as an author." Already, the hallmarks of a Gleitzman novel were in place - tough subjects presented in a funny and offbeat way. Those characteristics run through all of Gleitzman's work, from Misery Guts and Second Childhood, to Bumface and Wicked! – the multi-part novel Morris wrote jointly with Australia's other top children's author Paul Jennings.
[edit] Published works
- Puppy Fat
- Worry Warts
- Blabber Mouth
- Misery Guts
- Belly Flop
- Water Wings
- Two Weeks with the Queen
- Wicked! novel series - a collaboration with Paul Jennings;
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- Wicked! 1 (1997)
- Wicked! 2 Battering Rams (1998)
- Wicked! 3 Croaked (1998)
- Wicked! 4 Dead Ringer (1998)
- Wicked! 5 The Creeper (1998)
- Wicked! 9 Till Death Us Do Part (1998)* Second Childhood
- The Other Facts of Life
- Gift of the Gab
- Bumface
- Toad Rage
- Deadly with Paul Jennings
- Adults Only
- Toad Heaven
- Boy Overboard
- Teacher's Pet
- Toad Away
- Girl Underground
- Worm Story
- Once
- Aristotle's Nostril
- Doubting Thomas (2006)
- Toad Away
- Give Peas A Chance and Other Funny Stories'
Then
[edit] References
- ^ Morris Gleitzman Biography. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
- ^ Australia's Most Successful: Gleitzman. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
- ^ Morris G: Deep and Meaningful. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
- ^ About Morris. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
- ^ Morris, The Toad King. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
- ^ Morris Gleitzman: The Author & TV Writer. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
- ^ The Other Facts of Morris. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
