Richard Yaxley

Richard Yaxley is a Brisbane-based author. His novels include The Rose Leopard (2003), Bloodlines (2009), Joyous and Moonbeam (finalist in the 2014 Western Australian Premier’s Literary Award for YA Literature), This Is My Song (winner of the 2018 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for YA Literature; winner of the 2019 ACU Book of the Year Award; finalist in the 2017 Queensland Literary Awards), The Happiness Quest (2019 CBCA Notable for Older Readers), A New Kind Of Everything (2020), Harmony (longlisted for the CYA section of the 2021 ARA Historical Novel Prize), Leonardo Forever (2023) and, most recently, Something Somewhere (2024).

Richard is also a past winner of the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award (Drink the Air, 2010), a Fellowship from the May Gibbs Literature Trust and, in 2022, the inaugural QWC-Varuna Fellowship for Established Writers. He is a regular presenter of writing workshops for both students and adults, and has been a judge for significant prizes such as the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards (2021) and the Queensland Literary Awards (2024).

Richard has two Masters Degrees, in Cultural Studies and Human Rights, and has written or co-written over twenty-five textbooks for classrooms across Australia. In 2011, he was awarded a Medal in the Order of Australia (OAM).