A SHORT BIO

Jim Schembri was born on 21 April, 1962 at Williamstown Hospital in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. A few years later he attended Altona East Primary School and Paisley High School, where his flair for English and literature was matched by an astonishing lack of affinity with such subjects as maths, science, physics and chemistry.

In 1980 he worked as a copy boy for TV Week and New Idea magazines. The promise of a cadetship in journalism was withdrawn after a journalists' strike, so Jim resigned and took up a deferred position at Monash University. There he maintained an impressive C+ average, graduating in 1983 with a double major in Sociology and English literature.

He began working at The Age newspaper in 1984, where he presently works full-time as a feature writer, film reviewer and cultural commentator.

After a decade dedicated solely to journalism, Jim began developing his other writing interests. His first book, Room for One, was published in 1994. He has since written over 40 books, including eight novels for young adults, several novelettes and numerous illustrated books for children, some of which have been published in Canada and the United States.

In his own time Jim loves to write, read, watch TV, catch mice, sing in the spa, talk on the phone and collect Star Wars toys.