Mem Fox was born in Melbourne in 1946. At six months she went with her parents to Africa where she grew up on a mission on Zimbabwe. Her father's name - Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge - is also the title of her second book, while Miss Nancy, in the same book, is her mother.

In the mid-sixties, totally unsophisticated, she went to drama school in London and spent three arduous but happy years speaking Shakespeare, singing Beatles' songs, wearing mini-skirts and dyeing her hair - a habit she has never grown out of. She took a great risk in 1969 and married an Englishman. In 1970 they migrated to Adelaide, South Australia. She and Malcolm have lived happily ever after.

Their only child Chloe, to whom Possum Magic is dedicated, was born in 1971 and is now a journalist. Possum Magic sold over a million copies in its first ten years of publication and is still in hardback. It is the best selling picture book ever in Australia. Since its publication in 1983 Mem Fox has written over twenty-five picture books for children. Among her personal favourites are Koala Lou, Time for Bed and Wombat Divine. Her latest book, Sleepy Bears, is illustrated by Kerry Argent (Macmillan Australia 1999). She has also written several books for adults which include her autobiography, Mem's the word, and three books for teachers including the acclaimed Radical Reflections: Passionate Opinions on Teaching, Learning and Living. Many of her books are resoundingly successful in the USA, in particular Time for Bed, which was on the bestsellers lists for over a year.

Writing is her second love. Her first love is teaching to which she admits a powerful addiction. It has been the major focus of her life. She has been teaching teachers since 1973 and is much in demand as a keynote speaker at national and international literacy conferences. She is passionate about literacy and its development. Half her life, until the end of 1996, was spent teaching literacy studies with zest and enormous happiness as an Associate Professor at Flinders University in Adelaide. She is now a 'real' writer for the first time, and a highly regarded literacy consultant in Australia and the USA.

She has been presented with many awards including the 1990 Dromkeen Medal for distinguished services to children's literature; a 1991 Advance Australia Award for her outstanding contribution to Australian literature; a medal in the 1993 Australia Day Honours awards (for services to the cultural life of Australia), and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Wollongong, Australia.

www.memfox.com

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