John Marsden’s life recently took a new turn when he established a small alternative school just outside Melbourne.

Candlebark School, with 75 students, embodies John’s commitment to education that is imaginative, lively, spirited and invigorating. He has applied the same principles to his writing, which is now read avidly around the world, but never more eagerly than in Australia, where his sales have passed two million.

Recently John became only the fifth author to receive the prestigious Lloyd O’Neil Award. He joins Ruth Park, Tom Keneally, Morris West and Peter Carey to be honoured for lifelong services to the Australian book industry.