One of Australia's foremost authors of books for children and young adults, Patricia Wrightson has been writing for over thirty years. She came upon the literary scene "by accident," at a time when few Australian children's authors had yet been recognized. "I must, I think, be one of the luckiest writers who ever lived.

"I was lucky as a nervous, fumbling beginner, in daring only to write for my children; it took me by accident into the field where the qualities I value count most. I was lucky in stumbling into this field at a moment when it was bursting with life: when the whole small community connected with children's books was concerned and hopeful and purposeful; when the climate was right and it was all beginning. I was so very lucky as to win Australia's ten-year-old Book Council Award with my very first book.

"I do think...