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Sophie Masson

- Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education; School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Biography

Born in Indonesia of French parents, who are themselves of mixed ethnicity: Basque, Spanish, Portuguese and French-Canadian as well as French, Sophie Masson AM was brought up in France and Australia and now lives in regional NSW. Sophie is the award-winning author of over 70 books, for children, young adults and adults, many of which have been published internationally. Her most recent titles are A Hundred Words for Butterfly (adult novella, Spineless Wonders, in print, 2022; in audio, 2021) Sydney under Attack (middle-grade novel, Scholastic Australia, 2022); and Cock-a-doodle-doo(picture book, illustrated by Kathy Creamer, Little Pink Dog Books 2022). Sophie is also one of the writers and compilers of Inside Story: the wonderful world of writing, illustrating and publishing children’s books (UPA Books, 2022).

Sophie holds a PhD in Creative Practice from the University of New England and in 2019 she received an AM award in the Order of Australia honours list for her significant service to literature. A former chair of the ASA, Sophie is the current Chair of the New England Writers’ Centre and current President of the Small Press Network. She is also a director of acclaimed small publisher, Christmas Press. Her author website is at www.sophiemasson.org and she blogs at www.firebirdfeathers.com.

The University of New England respects and acknowledges that its people, courses and facilities are built on land, and surrounded by a sense of belonging, both ancient and contemporary, of the world's oldest living culture. In doing so, UNE values and respects Indigenous knowledge systems as a vital part of the knowledge capital of Australia. We recognise the strength, resilience and capacity of the Aboriginal community and pay our respects to the Elders past, present and future.