Claire Zorn (born in Penrith, New South Wales[1]) is an Australian writer of young adult fiction. She was awarded the CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers in 2015 and 2017.

Personal life

Zorn grew up in the Blue Mountains[1] and attended St Columba’s Catholic College.[2] She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a post graduate diploma in writing[3] from University of Technology Sydney.[4] As a writer of both fiction and non-fiction, her work has been published in literary journals including Wet Ink and the Overland Literary Journal,[5] and she blogs.[6] She is a Christian and has spoken publicly about how her faith influences her writing. She says she tries to view her characters with the same compassion and judgement as Christ views people.[7]

Published works and awards

• The Sky So Heavy (2013). University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702249761Set in the Blue Mountains, Zorn's first novel tells the story of a group of teenagers struggling to survive a nuclear winter.
  • Honour Book 2014 Children’s Book Council of Australia Award for Older Readers
  • Shortlisted 2014 Inky Gold Award
  • Shortlisted 2014 Aurealis Awards – Best Young Adult Novel
  • Shortlisted 2015 REAL Children's Choice Award – Fiction for Years 7-9[8]
• The Protected (2014). University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702250194[9]
  • Winner, Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2015 – Young Adult Fiction
  • Winner of the 2015 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Young Adult
  • Winner, 2015 CBCA Book of the Year for Older Readers
  • Shortlisted, 2015 Inky Gold Award
  • Selected in New Zealand Listener’s Top 50 Children’s Books for 2014
• One Would Think the Deep (2016). University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702253942[10] A novel about a 17-year-old boy learning to deal with the death of his mother and life in a small coastal town.
  • Winner, 2017 CBCA Book of the Year for Older Readers[11]
• When We Are Invisible (2021). University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702263132. Sequel to The Sky So Heavy.
  • Shortlisted, 2022 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Young Adult Fiction Award[12]

References

External links

• Official website