Paul Jennings was born in Heston, England.  When he was six he emigrated to Australia with his parents and sister Ruth.  After leaving school, Paul decided to become a teacher and studied at Frankston Teachers College. Paul’s collection of short stories Unreal! Was published in 1985 and he became a full-time writer in 1989.

Paul chose the title Unreal for his first collection of short stories as it was a word his own children often used.  After this, he realised how many ‘UN’ words there are and decided to use these for almost all of his collections of short stories.  Alongside his collections of short stories, which became the base for the cult children’s television series, Round the Twist, Paul has also written a popular series about Rascal the Dragon.  In addition to his Gizmo and Singenpoo series, Paul has co-authored two novels with Morris Gleitzman, Deadly and Wicked.  He has written two novels, How Hedley Hopkins did a Dare and The Nest and has also authored The Reading Bug… and how you can help your child to catch it.  Paul is the author of a trilogy of novellas, A Different Dog, A Different Boy and A Different Land.

Paul’s memoirs Untwisted will publish in the UK with Old Barn Books this Summer.  Humble, humorous and incredibly honest, Untwisted is an extraordinarily poignant treasure trove of life, astute observation and thought all told with Paul’s trademark pared back prose.  We are delighted to offer members the opportunity to read the electronic proof of Untwisted here https://www.calameo.com/read/00631837456f955206d4f

Thank you to Old Barn Books for this opportunity!  Copies of Untwisted can be preordered here  Cover illustration is by Geoff Kelly and has been designed by Sandra Nobes and Mike Jolley.