Mardi McConnochie is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n author and playwright. She is the author of three novels, Coldwater (2001), The Snow Queen (2003), Fivestar (2005), several plays and two books for children, Melissa, Queen of Evil (2006) and Dangerous Games (2007).

Born in Armidale

Armidale, New South Wales

Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale Dumaresq Shire had a population of 19,485 people according to the 2006 census. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region...

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, McConnochie was raised in Adelaide, South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

. She has a PhD

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 in English Literature from the University of Sydney

University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...

.

McConnochie's novels, which have been praised for their vigorous plotting, vivid characterisation and humour, have consistently grappled with questions about celebrity and the possibilities open to women and women artists. The first, Coldwater, which was one of The Washington Post's Books of the Year and was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book (SE Asia and Pacific Region) transplants the Brontë sisters

Brontë

The Brontës were a nineteenth-century literary family associated with Haworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The sisters, Charlotte , Emily , and Anne , are well-known as poets and novelists...

 to a penal colony off the New South Wales Coast, using the plight of the three to explore different approaches to art, life and love. The second, The Snow Queen is set in Adelaide and tells the story of a former Russian ballerina stranded in post-war Australia. It saw McConnochie voted one of The Sydney Morning Herald

The Sydney Morning Herald

The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...

s Best Young Australian Novelists. The third, Fivestar focuses on contemporary notions of celebrity, charting the rise and fall of an antipodean girl group reminiscent of The Spice Girls. Melissa, Queen of Evil, her first novel for children, won the 2006 Aurealis Award

Aurealis Award

Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction is an annual literary award for Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. Only Australians are eligible for the award.-History:...

 for Best Children's Novel.

As well as novels, McConnochie has written for the stage and for television. Her television credits include Home and Away

Home and Away

Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...

, Always Greener

Always Greener

Always Greener was an Australian television drama/comedy series that aired on the Seven Network which followed the fortunes of two families, one from the city and the other from the country, when they decide to switch homes and start a new direction in life for themselves...

, McLeod's Daughters

McLeod's Daughters

McLeod's Daughters is a Logie award-winning Australian drama series that aired on the Nine Network from 2001 to 2009. It tells the story of two sisters, Claire and Tess McLeod, who are reunited after they inherit the family farm...

 and Pacific Drive

Pacific Drive

Pacific Drive is an Australian television series made by Village Roadshow in association with New World International for the Nine Network between 1996 and 1997....

.

McConnochie lives in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 with her partner, the novelist, James Bradley

James Bradley (Australian writer)

James Bradley is an Australian novelist and critic. Born in Adelaide, South Australia, he trained as a lawyer before becoming a writer.His books include three novels and a book of poetry...

.

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