Craig Silvey

Silvey grew up in a small town in Western Australia, on which the town of Corrigan in Jasper Jones is loosely modeled. He was a precocious child who spent huge lengths of time indoors reading books, and his favorite authors were American Southerners like Harper Lee and William Faulkner. Charlie Bucktin, the protagonist of Jasper Jones, shares many of his habits and literary tastes with Silvey. When he was only 19, Silvey completed his first novel, entitled Rhubarb. It was a minor success, earning him good notices and a place in the prestigious “Books Alive” campaign. Four years after publishing Rhubarb, Silvey published Jasper Jones, which won several notable literary prizes, including the Printz Honor award from the American Library Association. He lives in Fremantle, where he is working on another novel.