Joanne Horniman has spent most of her life in country New South Wales, apart from a few years in Sydney and some time travelling overseas. She has worked as an editor, teacher and artist - some of the posters she helped produce are in the print collection of the Australian National Gallery. She has written many books for children and teenagers, including Secret Scribbled Notebooks (A+U 2004), winner of the 2005 Qld Premier's Literary Award and shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's and CBCA Awards. A Charm of Powerful Trouble (A+U 2002) was shortlisted for three Premier's Literary awards, and Mahalia (A+U 2001) was a CBC Honour book, and also shortlisted for numerous awards. Her next book with Allen + Unwin, to be published in 2008, will be a companion volume to Secret Scribbled Notebooks.
