Melina Marchetta
| Melina Marchetta | |
|---|---|
| Born | Melina Marchetta 25 March 1965 Sydney |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Period | 1992–present |
| Genre | Young adult fiction |
| Notable works |
|
| Notable awards | CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers |
| Website | |
| www |
|
Melina Marchetta (born 25 March 1965) is an Australian writer and teacher. Marchetta is best known as the author of novels, Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca and On the Jellicoe Road. She has twice been awarded the CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers, in 1993 and 2004. For Jellicoe Road she won the 2009 Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association, recognising the year's best book for young adults. Marchetta holds a name for being one of the more prominent Australian Authors of present time in Young-Adult Fiction.
Melina Marchetta was born in Sydney on 25 March 1965. She is of Italian descent; a middle child with two sisters. Marchetta attended high school at Rosebank College in the Sydney suburb of Five Dock. She left school at age fifteen as she was not confident in her academic ability. She then enrolled in a business school which helped her gain employment with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and later at a travel agency. This work gave her confidence to return to study and gain a teaching degree from the Australian Catholic University. She then got a job teaching at St Mary's Cathedral College, Sydney in the heart of the Sydney CBD until 2006. She now writes full-time.
Her first novel, Looking for Alibrandi was released in 1992 to much acclaim with a first print-run sellout within two months of its release. Published in 14 countries, including 11 translated editions, Looking for Alibrandi swept the pool of literary awards for young adult fiction in 1993 including the coveted CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers . Dubbed "the most stolen library book" the popular novel has sold more than half a million copies worldwide and was followed by her film adaptation of the same title released in 1999, Looking for Alibrandi.
...
Wikipedia