ABOUT ALLISON

AUSTRALIAN AUTHOR

Australian Author, Allison Marlow Paterson grew up on a farm surrounded by sheep, dogs and chooks. She loved to read and enjoyed endless hours in the school library. She became a teacher and her love of reading and children’s literature forged a pathway to becoming a teacher-librarian, the perfect job for a book-loving teacher. Allison also loved to write, a pastime which has led to the life of an author. It is a life immersed in words, books and sharing stories.

Allison is the author of the 2016 ABIA and CBCA longlisted title Anzac Sons: Five Brothers on the Western Front, the children’s version of the adult non-fiction title Anzac Sons: the Story of Five Brothers in the War to End All Wars. Both are based on a collection of over five hundred letters sent from the Western Front by her grandfather and his four brothers.  Australia Remembers: Anzac Day, Remembrance Day and War Memorials was published in 2018 and is the first in a military history series, it was followed Customs and Traditions of The Australian Defence Force.

In 2022, Allison was delighted to announce her third book in the series Cameron Baird VC, MG: Dedicated, Courageous and Born to Lead and the publication of the updated edition of Anzac Sons: Mateship, Courage and Sacrifice.

 Allison’s children’s picture books Granny’s Place and Shearing Time are inspired by childhood memories of her grandparents and life on the farm. I Wonder is Allison’s latest picture book for children and is inspired by Australia’s beautiful beaches and her concern for the environment. 

Allison was a recipient of a 2017 May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust Creative Time Fellowship which directly contributed to the publication of her YA novel Follow After Me in 2019. Allison now works as a writer, presenter in schools and at festivals, and as a publishing consultant with her publisher Big Sky Publishing. When she is not writing, or reading, she enjoys swimming, travelling, catching up with her grown-up family and walking on the beach near her home on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.