My first book passion was the Silver Brumby series by Elyne Mitchell, and the works of Jack London such as White Fang. From there it was a sudden shift to the 19th century Russian, French and English authors and after Gorky, Flaubert, Austen, then 20thC Americans such as Hemingway, Stein, Roth and Mary McCarthy. Soon enough I was immersed in the French postmodernists, (etcetera) and perversely, Australian realist women writers like Kylie Tenant, Dymphna Cusack and Florence James. Never took to Patrick White, but loved Randolf Stowe. I'm a contributor to Jane Gleeson White's "Australian Classics: 50 Great Writers And Their Celebrated Works", where I say more about my favourites. I continue to be a passionate reader of Australian and world literature including literature in translation. Also - popular genre lit including YA, which is often ahead of the curve, speculative and fantasy. I'm also writer of fiction and creative nonfiction, with novels, radio plays and other works published over the years. I work as an independent writing mentor, having taught CW in universities (Macquarie University, UTS and Johns Hopkins) for over thirty years.