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Catherine Jinks Catherine Jinks i(A34825 works by)
Born: Established: 1963 Brisbane, Queensland, ;
Gender: Female
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BiographyHistory

Catherine Jinks grew up in Papua New Guinea where her father was a Patrol Officer. After studying medieval history at Sydney University for four years she worked as a journalist and editor before becoming a full-time writer.

Jinks began her writing career with young adult fiction. The historical novels of the Pagan series were well received, particularly Pagan's Scribe (1996) which won several awards. By 2001 Jinks had written close to one dozen books for children and young adults, maintaining her reputation with several more awards. A three-year writing fellowship from the Australia Council enabled her to concentrate on writing full-time.

In 1996 Jinks published her first novel for adult readers, An Evening with the Messiah. She has since published adult fiction regularly, employing both contemporary and historical settings, with works such as Little White Secrets (1997), The Inquisitor (1999) and Bella Vista (2001).

Most Referenced Works

Personal Awards

2001 recipient Centenary Medal For service to Australian society and literature

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon The Attack Melbourne : Text Publishing , 2021 21556569 2021 single work novel

'Robyn Ayres works as the camp caretaker on Finch Island, a former leper colony off the coast of Queensland. Her current clients are a group of ex-military men who run a tough-love program for troubled teens.

'The latest crop looks like the usual mix of bad boys and sad boys. Then Robyn takes a second look at a kid called Darren. Last time she saw him his name was Aaron, and Robyn was his primary school teacher. And she was somehow at the centre of a vicious small-town custody battle involving his terrifying grandmother.

'Bruising classroom dynamics, manipulative parents and carers and horrendous small-town politics form the backdrop to a nail-biting thriller in which the tensions of ten years ago start to play themselves out, building to a violent climax in the present day.

'Robyn escaped the past once. Now it’s back—and this time there’s no way out.' (Publication summary)

2022 longlisted Davitt Award Best Adult Crime Novel
y separately published work icon Shelter Melbourne : Text Publishing , 2021 20079891 2021 single work novel thriller

'Meg lives alone. A little place in the bush outside town. A perfect place to hide. That's one of the reasons she offers to shelter Nerine, who's escaping a violent ex. The other is that Meg knows what it's like to live with an abusive partner.

'Nerine is jumpy and her two little girls are frightened. It tells Meg all she needs to know about where they've come from and she's not that surprised when Nerine asks her to get hold of a gun. But she knows it's unnecessary. They're safe now.

'Then she starts to wonder about some little things. A disturbed flyscreen. A tune playing on her windchimes. Has Nerine's ex tracked them down? Has Meg's husband turned up to torment her some more?

'By the time she finds out it'll be too late to do anything but run for her life.' (Publication summary)

2022 shortlisted The Danger Prize
2022 shortlisted Davitt Award Best Adult Crime Novel
y separately published work icon Shepherd Melbourne : Text Publishing , 2019 16862888 2019 single work novel historical fiction

'Fourteen-year-old convict Tom Clay lives in a shepherd’s hut in the bush, protecting his master’s sheep from wild dogs. When a vicious fellow shepherd returns to ensure there are no witnesses to his crimes, the bush-crafty Tom and his hapless mate Rowdy face a life-and-death battle to survive.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

2018 shortlisted Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing
2020 shortlisted HNSA Historical Novel Prize
2020 shortlisted Colin Roderick Award
2020 longlisted Davitt Award Best Adult Crime Novel
2019 winner Australian Shadows Award Novel
2020 longlisted APA Book Design Awards Best Designed Commercial Fiction Cover Cover designed by Jessica Horrocks
Last amended 8 Sep 2021 13:15:44
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