Sophie Masson

Sophie Masson is a French-Australian fantasy and children's author.

Early life and education

Sophie Masson was born in Indonesia of French parents who are of mixed ancestry (French, Spanish and Portuguese). Masson, the third in a family of seven children, came to Australia at the age of five and spent most of the rest of her childhood shuttling back and forth between Australia and France.

Career

Her first two novels, one for adults entitled The House in the Rainforest; the second, for children, called Fire in the Sky, were published in Australia in 1990. Having written 40 books, for children, young adults and adults, she is now published in the UK, United States, Thailand and Germany as well as Australia. Most of her novels are in the fantasy genre, but she has also written realistic fiction. She has also had many short stories, essays, articles and reviews published, in books, magazines, newspapers and internet journals.

Personal life

Masson is married, has three children and lives in northern New South Wales. She has also written books under the pen-names of Isabelle Merlin and Jenna Austen.

Nominations and Awards

• 2011: New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature for The Hunt for Ned Kelly
• 2005: Aurealis Award The YA category for The Hand of Glory

Several other books have been shortlisted for the Aurealis Award for Excellence in Speculative Fiction.

Bibliography

Novels

• Masson, Sophie (1990). The house in the rainforest. St Lucia, Qld.: University of Queensland Press. 
• A Blaze of Summer (1991)
• Sooner or Later (1991)
• The Sun is Rising (1996)
• The Gifting (1996)
• Carabas (1996) (US title Serafin)
• The Hoax (1997)
• The Tiger (1998)
• Red City (1998)
• The First Day (2000)
• The Green Prince (2000)
• The Firebird (2001)
• The Hand of Glory (2002)
• The Tempestuous Voyage of Hopewell Shakespeare (2003)
• In Hollow Lands (2004)
• Snow, Fire, Sword (2004)
• Malvolio's Revenge (2005)
• The Madman of Venice (2009)
• The Hunt for Ned Kelly (2010)
• The Phar Lap Mystery (2010)
• My Father's War (2011)
• The Understudy's Revenge (2011)
• The Boggle Hunters (2012)
• Moonlight and Ashes (2012)
• Ned Kelly's Secret (2012)
• Scarlet in the Snow (2013)
• The Crystal Heart (2014)
• Trinity: The False Prince (2015)
• Hunter's Moon (2015)

Lay Lines series

Her Lay Lines trilogy is based on the life and work of the 12th century French poet, Marie de France, and involves love and magic, werewolves and fairy lovers. It evokes the medieval world and world view, notably through the device of the "book within a book".

• Knight by the Pool (1998)
• The Lady of the Flowers (1999)
• Stone of Oakenfast (2000)
• The Forest of Dreams (2001) Omnibus edition

StarMaker series

Her StarMaker trilogy for young adults is a set of unrelated fairytale fantasies set in an historical context. The books are based on Tattercoats and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Malkin), Sleeping Beauty (Clementine) and Puss in Boots (Serafin).

• Malkin (1998) (also published as Cold Iron)
• Clementine (1999)
• Serafin (1999) (also published as Carabas)

Thomas Trew series

Her Thomas Trew series for children is set in the Hidden Land, a fantasy world of several realms, each dominated by a particular type of mythical being: Middler Land, a mixed collection of magic-using villagers including pixies and werefoxes; Pandemonium, the realm of the brutish Uncouthers; Arkadia, populated by beings from Greek mythology; Montaynard country, land of dwarves and trolls; Oceanopolis, where selkies and mermaids live; Seraphimia in the sky, home of the winged ariels; and the Island of Ghosts, ruled by Mister D, the lord of death.

The series was published by Hodder & Stoughton between 2006 and 2008. There are six titles, all illustrated by Ted Dewan.

• Thomas Trew and the Hidden People (2006)
• Thomas Trew and the Horns of Pan (2007)
• Thomas Trew and the Klint-King's Gold (2007)
• Thomas Trew and the Selkie's Curse (2007)
• Thomas Trew and the Flying Huntsman (2007)
• Thomas Trew and the Island of Ghosts (2008)

Non-fiction

• Masson, Sophie (Dec 1995). "Chain reaction : anti-French hysteria in Australia". Quadrant. 39 (12): 26–29. 
• Life, Literature, Legends: Collected Essays 1996-2011 (2011)

External links

• Official website
• Sophie Masson at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Sophie Masson's channel on YouTube
• The story behind The Crystal Heart - Essay by Sophie Masson at Upcoming4.me