Robin Klein
Encyclopedia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of books for children. She was born 28 February 1936, in Kempsey
Kempsey, New South Wales
Kempsey is a town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia and is the council seat for Kempsey Shire. It is located 15 kilometres inland from the coast of the Pacific Ocean where the Pacific Highway and the North Coast railway line cross the Macleay River...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and now resides near Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
.
Early life
Robin Klein was one of nine children. She had her first short story published at the age of sixteen. She worked in number of jobs before becoming an established writer, such as tea lady at a warehouse, as a bookshop assistant, a nurse, copper enamelist, and program aide at a school for disadvantaged children.Career
Several of her books have been short-listedShort list
A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates . The length of short lists varies according to the context.-U.S...
for the Australian Children's Book of the Year Award, including Hating Alison Ashley
Hating Alison Ashley (novel)
Hating Alison Ashley is a 1984 Australian novel by science fiction and children's author Robin Klein. Written as a pre-teen comedy, the book has a strong moral undercurrent about the pursuit of happiness and perfection, the pressures of growing up and the power of friendship...
(also a film
Hating Alison Ashley (film)
Hating Alison Ashley is a 2005 Australian comedy film based upon the 1984 novel of the same name produced by Elizabeth Howatt-Jackman and directed by Geoff Bennett...
starring Delta Goodrem
Delta Goodrem
Delta Lea Goodrem is an Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress. Signed to Sony at the age of 15, Goodrem rose to prominence in 2002, starring in the Australian soap opera Neighbours as Nina Tucker. Goodrem has achieved eight number-one singles and three number-one albums in her home...
) and Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left
Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left
Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left is a 1985 novel by Australian children's author Robin Klein which also became a children's television series.The story focuses on an alien family who seek refuge on Earth, in the small town of Bellwood...
(filmed as a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series for the Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
in 1992). Klein's novel Came Back to Show You I Could Fly
Came Back to Show You I Could Fly
Came Back to Show You I Could Fly is a novel by Robin Klein. It tells the story of a friendship between a lonely 11-year-old boy and a drug-addicted, pregnant 20-year-old woman. It was made into a film in 1993 called Say a Little Prayer, directed by Richard Lowenstein...
won a Human Rights Award for Literature in 1989 and also won the 1990 Australian Children's Book of the Year Award for Older Readers. It was filmed as Say a Little Prayer
Say a Little Prayer (film)
Say a Little Prayer is a children's film by Richard Lowenstein. It stars Sudi de Winter, Fiona Ruttelle, Rebecca Smart, Lynne Murphy and Jill Forster. The film was written by Richard Lowenstein, based on Robin Klein's novel, Came Back to Show You I Could Fly...
in 1993. She wrote her first short story at the age of 16.
Several of her other books have received awards in Australia, including the South Australian Festival Award for Literature, which she won in 1998 with The Listmaker. Many others including Boss of the Pool have also won or been short listed.
Robin Klein suffered an aneurysm
Aneurysm
An aneurysm or aneurism is a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms can commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain and an aortic aneurysm occurs in the main artery carrying blood from the left ventricle of the heart...
rupture, and, while she survived, she lives in a nursing home
Nursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
and is no longer able to write or do significant publicity work for her books.
Awards
- 1978 - Special mention, Critici in Erba Prize at BolognaBologna Children's Book FairThe Bologna Children's Book Fair or La fiera del libro per ragazzi is the leading professional fair for children's books in the world.Since 1963, it is held yearly for four days in March or April in Bologna, Italy...
for The Giraffe in Pepperell Street - 1989 - Human Rights Literature and Awards
- 1991 - Canberra’s Own Outstanding List (COOL), Fiction for Older Readers AwardCOOL Award WinnersThe COOL awards is an annual children's choice award voted on by students in Canberra, the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Children are encouraged to read and vote for their favourite books...
for People Might Hear You - 1992 - Canberra’s Own Outstanding List (COOL), Fiction for Older Readers AwardCOOL Award WinnersThe COOL awards is an annual children's choice award voted on by students in Canberra, the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Children are encouraged to read and vote for their favourite books...
for Came Back to Show You I Could FlyCame Back to Show You I Could FlyCame Back to Show You I Could Fly is a novel by Robin Klein. It tells the story of a friendship between a lonely 11-year-old boy and a drug-addicted, pregnant 20-year-old woman. It was made into a film in 1993 called Say a Little Prayer, directed by Richard Lowenstein...
Adaptations
- Thing - Television
- Penny Pollard's Diary - Television
- Hating Alison Ashley - Play; adapted for the stage by Richard Tulloch
- Hating Alison AshleyHating Alison Ashley (film)Hating Alison Ashley is a 2005 Australian comedy film based upon the 1984 novel of the same name produced by Elizabeth Howatt-Jackman and directed by Geoff Bennett...
- Film; adapted for the screen by Chris Anastassiades and Christine Madafferi, 2005. - Boss of the pool - Play; adapted for the stage by Mary MorrisMary MorrisMary Morris was a British actress.-Life and career:She was the daughter of Herbert Stanley Morris, the botanist, and his wife Sylvia Ena de Creft-Harford. She was educated at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.She made her stage debut in Lysistrata at the Gate Theatre, London, in 1935...
- Say a Little PrayerSay a Little Prayer (film)Say a Little Prayer is a children's film by Richard Lowenstein. It stars Sudi de Winter, Fiona Ruttelle, Rebecca Smart, Lynne Murphy and Jill Forster. The film was written by Richard Lowenstein, based on Robin Klein's novel, Came Back to Show You I Could Fly...
- Film; adapted for the screen and Directed by Richard LowensteinRichard LowensteinRichard Lowenstein is an Australian film director. He has written, produced and directed the feature films He Died With A Felafel In His Hand, Dogs In Space, Say a Little Prayer, Strikebound and Ghost Story, as well as numerous ground-breaking and award-winning music videos for bands such as INXS...
, 1993. - Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left - Television; adapted for the screen by Michael Harvey and John Reeves, 1994
External links
- Penguin Books author profile
- Fan site for the Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn LeftHalfway Across the Galaxy and Turn LeftHalfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left is a 1985 novel by Australian children's author Robin Klein which also became a children's television series.The story focuses on an alien family who seek refuge on Earth, in the small town of Bellwood...
television series - Sophie Masson describes Klein's illness
- Internet Movie Database entry for Robin Klein
- Say a Little Prayer (movie)