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Sean Williams Sean Williams i(A13682 works by) (a.k.a. Sean Llewellyn Williams)
Also writes as: E. W. Story ; Bradley MacMillan ; E. T. Ladd
Born: Established: 1967 Whyalla, Whyalla area, Northern Eyre Peninsula, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, ;
Gender: Male
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BiographyHistory

Sean Williams was born in Whyalla, a seaport town on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, but largely raised in Adelaide, where he still lives (as of 2017).

Educated at Pulteney Grammar School in Adelaide, he won the South Australia Young Composers Award the year he graduated (1984). While his music has not been as prominent a part of his published work as his writing, he has continued to work in the field, including producing the script and limited score for The Soap Bubble: A Space Opera (table reading at Conflux, 2006) and the musical collage The Grand Silence (2016).

He studied for a Bachelor of Economics at the University of Adelaide, from which institution he later gained both a Master of Arts and a PhD in Creative Writing: he remains a visiting scholar at the university and an affiliate of its J.M. Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice.  

In 1991, Williams began his writing career with a series of short stories in amateur and small-press publications, leading to a sale to the magazine Aurealis. He published more than forty stories in the 1990s in Australian periodicals and anthologies

His first novel was The Unknown Soldier, written with Shane Dix, and published in 1995, later reimagined and re-written as The Prodigal Sun, book one of the Evergence trilogy (1999-2001). He later collaborated on other works with Dix, most notably the Force Heretic trilogy, a series set in the Star Wars universe.

His work has been translated into French, Japanese, Russian and Polish, and collected in Doorway to Eternity (MirrorDanse Books, 1994), A View Before Dying (Ticonderoga, 1998), the Ditmar award-winning New Adventures in Sci-Fi (Ticonderoga, 1999) and Magic Dirt : The Best of Sean Williams (Ticonderoga, 2008).

His work for children includes the Troubletwisters series with Garth Nix, as well as the  collaboration, Have Sword, Will Travel. His work for young-adult readers includes the Broken Land Trilogy, The Change trilogy, and the Twinmaker series (three novels and multiple short stories). He has also written a wide range of standalone works for children, young-adult, and adult readerships.

Among his awards are multiple Aurealis and Ditmar Awards, and nominations for the Philip K. Dick Award, the Seiun Award, and the William Atheling Jr. Award for criticism.

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Honour Among Ghosts Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2022 24793894 2022 single work children's fiction children's fantasy

'A suspenseful middle-grade fantasy full of mystery, twists and skulduggery from the author of the critically acclaimed Her Perilous Mansion.

'When Athelbert Fan is thrown in jail for thievery, his daughter, Penny, is convinced he has been framed. Someone else must have stolen the gold cup from the crabby magistrate's home and put it in with her father's tools. But who could it be? Setting out to prove his innocence, Penny forms an unlikely foursome with the magistrate's son, a young traveller and a magical scribe's apprentice. Soon they discover even more crimes - and it's always the rich being burgled and the poor being blamed. Before long the whole town is in uproar, until a mysterious inspector arrives ... but can he be trusted? It's up to the young quartet to untangle the truth and put things right.' (Publication summary)

2022 shortlisted Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction Fantasy Division Novel
y separately published work icon Little Labyrinths Brisbane : Brain Jar Press , 2021 23488601 2021 selected work short story science fiction fantasy

'Matter transporters, dead worlds, and ghostly encounters. Parallel worlds, time-travel, and dangers that lurk in the shadows. 

'Little Labyrinths brings together 17 vignettes and microfictions from one of Australia’s premier authors of science fiction and fantasy. Collected together for the first time, these brief tales and startling asides cover territory that is playful, experimental, and infused with speculative wonder. Once dubbed Australia’s King of Genre Fiction, Williams’ work will remind you of the strange, exciting, and mysterious pleasures that come from losing yourself in the smallest stories.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

2021 finalist Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction Best Collection
y separately published work icon Her Perilous Mansion Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2020 18880309 2020 single work children's fiction children's fantasy 'In a strange mansion miles from anywhere, an orphan named Almanac and a twelfth daughter named Etta find themselves working - and bickering - side by side in the largely deserted rooms. But soon they realise that the house and its inhabitants are not quite what they seem, and there's more at stake than just their jobs. Can they solve the puzzle of Her Perilous Mansion before it's too late?' (Publication summary)
2020 finalist Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction Children's Division
2021 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Books
2021 CBCA Book of the Year Awards Notable Book Younger Readers

Known archival holdings

University of Queensland University of Queensland Library Fryer Library (QLD)
Last amended 16 May 2018 10:20:21
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