Judith Clarke was born in Sydney and educated at the University of New South Wales and the Australian National University in Canberra. She has worked as a teacher and librarian, and in Adult Education in Victoria and New South Wales. She now lives in Melbourne with her husband, and has one grown-up son.

A major force in YA fiction both in Australia and internationally, Judith Clarke's novels include the multi-award-winning Night Train, Friend of my Heart and the very popular and funny Al Capsella series. She is unsurpassed in her ability to convey complex emotional states with acute understanding and compassion.