I relish telling stories in many different forms, mostly with a sprinkle of humour, and have always been enchanted by live theatre.
So I write fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, and work in theatre as well.
Wendy Blaxland
Publication History
Qualifications Ba (Hons Eng Lit 1st Class) 1971 Dip Ed (Mac Uni) 1972 ATCL (London) 1971
Academic Tutor (Eng Lit) MACU 1975-8 (Drama) Une 1979-84 Ait (Communics) 1985-92
Freelance Writer (1975-Present)
- Reviewer Sydney Morning Herald 1975-8 Australian 1981-4 New Zealand Herald
- Feature writer (travel, general) Manchester Guardian, The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Washington Post, New Zealand Herald, Classroom (Scholastic)
- Children’s plays: Musical participation plays Marian Street Theatre for Young People, Killara: The Black Prince, She Sells Seashells, The Bee and the Butterfly, The Last Bunyip, Zoo Escapade, Hidden Treasure, Animalympics, Maya and the Sea Dragon, Once Upon A Time, Alice, The Ugly Duckling, Beauty and the Beast, Rumpelstiltskin, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Golden Fish, Sleeping Beauty, The Frog Prince 1977-2019, Space Symphony, The Little Drummer Boy (Proms), CDP Productions, SOH 2013
- Adult Plays: Yarns and Woolly Tales, Gold!, Mirrors Drama Dept UNE, 1981-4, Crossing, Pioneers in Petticoats, Matilda Fish and the Bushranger, Gold, Alice, Blaxland and Daughter Productions 2013-6
- Adult Books: Good Old Days, Good Old Ways (Reader’s Digest, 1999), Ready to Go Drama Lower/Middle/Upper Primary (Blake Education 2004)
- Children’s Books: See website list for all 117 books. Series include 24 books with Cambridge University Press (Bright Sparks and Pobblebonk series), 24 books with Macmillan Education: I Can Cook! series: American Food, Chinese Food (Honour Book SWW), French Food, Italian Food, Mexican Food, Middle Eastern Food 2011, How Are They Made? series: Basketballs, Bottles and Jars, Cans, Guitars, Helmets, Jumpers, Knives and Forks, Paper, Pencils, Plates and Mugs, Sneakers, T shirts, 2006-8, 10 books with Scholastic Reading Discovery Series 1996-7 (prize-winning for educational excellence), 2 books Thomas Nelson 1997-200, 3 books Rigby Education 1996-7, 15 books Barrie (1997-2000), 8 books Sunshine Books NZ 1996-2019, The Princess and the Unicorn Penguin/Happy Cat UK, also read on BBC4 TV, 6 books Blake Education 2001-6, 2 books Watts 2003-4, 2 books Nelson, The Christmas Rose Walker Books Aust 2014, script Maya and the Sea Dragon MSTYP 2019
- TV: ‘Play School’, ABC, scriptwriter 1998- 2000
- Poetry: Children’s poems in the NSW School Magazine 2006-2018, and Lines in the Sand anthology Frances Lincoln (England) 2003
- Adult Poetry: 18 poems 2019-2021 in anthologies, magazines and on-line in Australia (Meniscus), the US (The Closed Eye Open) Canada (Cathexis) and Norway (Griffel).
- Children’s prose: 8 stories with Teachers 4 Teachers 2007, 1 with New Worlds Old World Other Worlds anthology (CBCA NSW Eastern Suburbs) 2021
- Academic publications: critical work in 1975 and 1983, papers at conferences.
Wendy Blaxland 