Juliet Marillier

Juliet Marillier
Born 27 July 1948 (1948-07-27) (age 63)
Dunedin, New Zealand
Alma mater University of Otago
Genres Historical fantasy
Notable award(s) 2008 Sir Julius Vogel Award

Juliet Marillier (born 27 July 1948) is a New Zealand-born writer of fantasy, especially historical fantasy. She currently lives in Western Australia. While Marillier writes mostly for adults, her recent books have included Cybele's Secret, a sequel to her novel for young adults Wildwood Dancing. Cybele's Secret won a 2008 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Novel - Young Adult. Her latest release is "Seer of Sevenwaters", the second companion novel to the Sevenwaters trilogy.

Contents

Life and education

Juliet Marillier was born 27 July 1948 in Dunedin, New Zealand and grew up surrounded by Celtic music and stories. Her own Celtic-Gaelic roots inspired her to write her first series, the Sevenwaters Trilogy. Marillier was educated at the University of Otago, where she majored in music and languages, graduating BA and a B Mus (Hons). She has said in interviews that this academic training strengthened her writing, and that her lifelong interest in history, folklore and mythology has had a major influence on her storytelling style.

She lives in a hundred-year-old cottage in a riverside suburb of Perth. She shares her home with two dogs and a cat. She has four adult children and four grandchildren, all of whom live in Australia. She has been a fulltime writer since 2002, having previously worked at a variety of jobs including music teaching at both secondary and tertiary levels and in the Public Service.

Marillier was diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2009. She has since completed a course of chemotherapy, and in August 2009 will start a six week course of Radiotherapy.

Writing style

Several of Marillier's books are written in the first person. One of her strengths is her ability to use this point-of-view skillfully, allowing the reader to form a close bond with the main character. Her characters are well rounded and the reader becomes familiar with their strengths and weaknesses, which again encourages immersion in the characters' world. Marillier is also noted for writing sequels that can stand alone: readers of the earlier books in a series will recognise old friends while new readers will quickly feel at home with characters old and new.

Marillier has said that it takes her about a year to finish a novel and that she is often researching one book while writing another and editing a third. She also says that she usually bases a story on two elements: what the main character learns about herself and her world that makes this adventure personally significant; and the bigger picture, showing this character’s role in something outside herself, such as saving a community or forging peace between two warring tribes. The first idea reinforces the second, making the writing both personal and realistic.

Juliet Marillier's books have won many awards, such as the American Library Association’s Alex Award for Daughter of the Forest and the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel for Son of the Shadows, Blade of Fortriu and Wildwood Dancing.

Bibliography

The Sevenwaters Trilogy

Saga of the Light Isles

The Bridei Chronicles

The Whistling Tor Series

Novels for Young Adults

External links