Mark Greenwood

Mark is an author with a passion for history and legends. He has twice received the West Australian Premier’s Award, for The Legend of Moondyne Joe and The Legend of Lasseter’s Reef. Fortuyn’s Ghost, is the story of an ill-fated Dutch East India ship. Simpson and his Donkey, was an Australian Children’s Book Council honor book in 2009 and was selected as a USBBY Outstanding International Book. Mark’s new book is Ned Kelly and the Green Sash. Mark’s earlier work, Magic Boomerang, Outback Adventure and Our Big Island, was prompted by an interest in multicultural literature and the unique way illustrated books can assist children to develop an understanding of other cultures.
	As a musician, Mark spent many years touring, recording and performing with the world's foremost musicians. Now he enjoys working with students of all ages, inspiring and developing their natural curiosity about books, writing and rhythm. “My task as a writer is to fossick stories that ‘sparkle’ and make us want to read, hear and understand.
The ‘spark’ to write may be something as simple as a dog-eared photo with a question that teases the imagination or an artifact that generates interest and discussion - a nugget of gold, a relic of war, a shipwreck coin.
	Research has led me to the island of angry ghosts on a search for shipwreck treasure and to the hallowed beach at Gallipoli. In Central Australia I sat in the cave where, suffering from thirst and starvation, Lasseter wrote his last farewell in a crumbled diary. These journeys of discovery help me balance creative interpretation with historical authenticity. Being in the setting I’m writing about, where the historical events actually occurred, is one of the crucial stages in bringing history to life.
The ultimate purpose of research is to become steeped in a period so that in my dreams and imaginings I can walk undetected in the past. If I’m lucky I can get close enough to read the expression in my character’s eyes or hear the tone of their voice.”