About Susanne Gervay

Susanne celebrates the writing community and is:

Co-Regional Adviser of SCBWI Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Australia and New Zealand
Chair of the Sydney Writers and Illustrators Network
On the board of the NSW Writers Centre holding the youth portfolio
Director of the Kids and Young Adult Writers Festival, NSW Writers Centre
Patron of Monkey BAA Theatre for Young People
Ambassador for Room to Read

Monkey Baa Theatre logo

Listen or read my mother's life story here Veronika Gervay, as it's my story too, about the journey of coming from another country because of war to find a new home in a new world.

My parents were post war Hungarian refugees who found a safe haven and home here. So did I.

You can read the transcript here, or listen to the audio. It's 3MB, so will take a few minutes to load, but it's well worth it.

Rock music, girls, guys, bullying, life - that's what I write about. Photo of Susanne Gervay

I didn't know I was going to be an author. I just wrote because I had to. I love being an author because I can share my imagination, thoughts, experiment with words, create new meanings. Being an author means that I can speak to readers and hopefully make life funnier, happier, and people 'get it'. My I Am Jack and Super Jack are inspired by my son when he was growing up. The books deals with bullying and blended families and friends and just what happens in life. Everyone loves the joke about the 'little red man' in JACK. I Am Jack has been made into a play that travels around Australia from indigenous settlements in the outback to country towns, from Mt Isa to Kalgoorlie. It's translated into other languages including Bahasa, Korean and Romanian.

My YA novel, The Cave received The Society of Women Writers Biennial Young Adult Book Award which I am very proud of. Despite the confronting youth male nature of that book, in awarding The Cave the prize, the Society of Women Writers were not subject to age or gender. They went beyond it. Butterflies has been nominated as Outstanding Youth Literature on Disability (IBBY) and is an emotional journey into courage and reaching for who you are.

That's Why I Wrote This Song is especially important to me, as it is a collaborative work with my beautiful, talented daughter Tory, and many young people who created the video for PSYCHO DAD.

I have won literary awards for my short stoires and have had numerous short stories published in literary journals such as Southerly, Quadrant, Mattoid, Westerly, Voices (Australian National Library), Hermes and university publications. 'Days of Thailand' is in the Picador anthology 'Fear Factor: Terror Incognito'.

My academic background includes a BA (University of Sydney), Dip Ed (Advanced College of Education Victoria), M.Ed (university of NSW), M.A (University of Technology Sydney).

I am a specialist in child growth & development, a teacher and lecturer, am Creative Director for The Hughenden, an arts and literary hotel in Sydney, am deeply involved in writing organizations. I am on the Board of the NSW Writers Centre, co-head of SCBWI Australia and New Zealand, lead the Sydney Writers & Illustrators Network at the Hughenden, was awarded The Lady Cutler Award for Distinguished Services to Children's Literature in 2007 and UTS Professional achievement award in 2008.

I'm insanely busy with everything. I often get up at four in the morning to write when it's quiet. In between working at The Hughenden Boutique Hotel, kids, writing tours and literature festivals, it all gets hectic. I have to admit that sometimes I go away for a week, so I can finish a book. It’s called life.

Related websites:

Susanne's Other Writing

Susanne writes fiction for literary journals, non fiction articles for a wide array of publications.

A recent article is:- YA Books: Cutting Edge Literature (Papertigers.org)

Read the award winning short story The Baby is Sweet.