David Metzenthen is an Australian writer for children and young adults who was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1958.
As a child, David was a nature boy; he loved fishing and farm work, exploring the bush, and being outdoors under the stars. He also lived very much inside his own head; feeling that the world was a place of unlimited adventure. He harboured dreams of becoming a cowboy, a fisherman, a farmer, a sailor, or a writer. Instead he left home at eighteen, with a copy of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road for company, and hitch-hiked his way around New Zealand, where he held a variety of jobs.
David worked as a builder’s labourer and advertising copy writer before finding success as a writer of books for children and young adults and deciding to write full-time.
He tries to surf, fly-fish, and is a keen environmentalist. The natural world is where he likes to spend his time, and he endeavours to write books that are thoughtful and well-crafted. David is married to Fiona, has two children, two parrots, and a good Irish Terrier dog.
He now lives in Melbourne with his wife and two children
Published Works
- One Minute’s Silence
- Danger Wave
- Lee Spain
- Johnny Hart’s Heroes
- Finn and the Big Guy
- Falling Forward
- Gilbert’s Ghost Train
- Mick the Mimic
- The Red Hot Footy Fiasco
- Stony Heart Country
- The Colour of Sunshine
- Wildlight: A Journey
- Boys of Blood and Bone
- Tiff and the Trout
- Blackwater
- Jarvis 24
- Tigerfish