John Marsden (27 September 1950 – 18 December 2024) was an Australian writer and teacher. He wrote more than 40 books in his career, including his young adult novel Tomorrow, When the War Began, which began a series of seven books.

Marsden began writing for children while working as a teacher, and had his first book, So Much to Tell You, published in 1987. In 2006, he started an alternative school, Candlebark School, and reduced his writing to focus on teaching and running the school. In 2016, he opened the arts-focused secondary school, Alice Miller School. Both schools are in the Macedon Ranges of Victoria.

Early life and education

John Marsden was born on 27 September 1950 in Melbourne, the son of Eustace Culham Hudson Marsden and Jeanne Lawler Marsden.

Later career

In 1993, Marsden published Tomorrow, When the War Began, the first book in the Tomorrow series and his most acclaimed work. Marsden went on to write seven books in the Tomorrow series, together with a follow-up trilogy, The Ellie Chronicles. His last novel, titled Take Risks, was published in 2021.

Themes

Marsden's earlier works are largely novels aimed at teenage or young adult audience.

Recognition and accolades

In 1996, Marsden's books took the top six places on the Teenage Fiction best-seller lists for Australia.<!---don't state number without providing a date - these sources are old --->

Marsden won every major writing award in Australia for young people's fiction, The work, The Rabbits, premiered in 2015 in Perth, and was staged in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, winning several awards.

In December 2018, Marsden was awarded the Dromkeen Medal, in recognition of his outstanding achievement in children's and young adult literature.

In April 2021, University of the Sunshine Coast awarded Marsden with an honorary doctorate.

Critique

Writer Alice Pung has praised Marsden's works, including Winter, stating that his success among young adults is due to the fact that he puts the experiences and perspectives of children at the centre of his writing.

Some critics have suggested that Marsden's writings are too negative. Michaels criticises him for portraying the world as fundamentally malevolent. Scutter agrees, suggesting that the children portrayed in his writings are extremely troubled. She thinks that Marsden represents adolescence as a period of life that is completely beset with "pain, loneliness, difficulty in communication [and] lack of love". For them, the weak or absent adult characters in Marsden's novels are simply an accurate reflection of their life. which was widely criticised. Marsden defended his views, going on to say that students from other cultures were bullied less at Geelong Grammar if they were more "Westernised", saying: "If they were able to speak English fluently and wear the clothes that Anglo kids wore and listened to the same kind of music, then they were fully accepted. There was absolutely no racism involved".

Schools

In 2006, Marsden started an alternative school, Candlebark School, catering for years K–12, in the Macedon Ranges. He lived in Lancefield, Victoria, from 2014 until 2021 and in Romsey, Victoria, from 2021, where he died on 18 December 2024, at the age of 74. Alice Miller School wrote a letter to parents, stating that he had died while writing at his desk at home.

Marsden was the patron of Express Media, a youth arts organisation, which awarded the annual John Marsden Prize for Young Australian Writers from 2005.

Published works

Tomorrow series

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Title !! Year !! Notes

|-

| Tomorrow, When the War Began || 1993||

  • Winner, Australian Multicultural Children's Book Award 1994
  • Notable Book, CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers 1996
  • Winner, WAYRBA (West Australian Young Readers' Books Award) 1999

|-

| Take My Word for It || 1992 ||

  • Shortlisted, CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers 1993

|-

| For Weddings and a Funeral || 1996 ||

  • Editor

|-

| Dear Miffy || 1997 ||

|-

| Prayer for the Twenty-First Century || 1997 ||

  • Notable Book, CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book 1998
  • Illustrated by Mark Jackson and Heather Potter

|-

| Hamlet: A Novel || 2008 ||

|-

| Home and Away || 2008 ||

  • Honour Book, CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book 2009 -->

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  • Candlebark School
  • Alice Miller School
  • Works at Open Library