Claire Zorn Explained

Claire Zorn (born in Penrith, New South Wales^[1]) is an Australian writer of young adult fiction. She was awarded the CBCA in 2015 and 2017.

Personal life

Zorn grew up in the Blue Mountains and attended St Columba's Catholic College.^[2] She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a post graduate diploma in writing^[3] from University of Technology Sydney.^[4] As a writer of both fiction and non-fiction, her work has been published in literary journals including Wet Ink and the Overland Literary Journal,^[5] and she blogs.^[6] She is a Christian and has spoken publicly about how her faith influences her writing. She says she tries to view her characters with the same compassion and judgement as Christ views people.^[7]

Published works and awards

• The Sky So Heavy (2013). University of Queensland Press. Set in the Blue Mountains, Zorn's first novel tells the story of a group of teenagers struggling to survive a nuclear winter.
  • Honour Book 2014 Children's Book Council of Australia Award for Older Readers
  • Shortlisted 2014 Inky Gold Award
  • Shortlisted 2014 Aurealis Awards – Best Young Adult Novel
  • Shortlisted 2015 REAL Children's Choice Award – Fiction for Years 7-9^[8]
• The Protected (2014). University of Queensland Press. ^[9]
  • Winner, Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2015 – Young Adult Fiction
  • Winner of the 2015 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Young Adult
  • Winner, 2015 CBCA Book of the Year for Older Readers
  • Shortlisted, 2015 Inky Gold Award
  • Selected in New Zealand Listener's Top 50 Children's Books for 2014
• One Would Think the Deep (2016). University of Queensland Press. ^[10] A novel about a 17-year-old boy learning to deal with the death of his mother and life in a small coastal town.
  • Winner, 2017 CBCA Book of the Year for Older Readers^[11]
• When We Are Invisible (2021). University of Queensland Press. . Sequel to The Sky So Heavy.
  • Shortlisted, 2022 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Young Adult Fiction Award^[12]

Notes and References

1. News: Claire Zorn - Booked Out. Booked Out. 2017-08-18. en-US.
2. Web site: Year 10 Author Visit. https://web.archive.org/web/20170226062907/http://www.stcolumbasspringwood.catholic.edu.au/SiteData/191/UserFiles/NewsletterPDF/The_Dove_20_May_2016.pdf. dead. 2017-02-26. Stanisic. Annabella Noussis. 2016. The Dove. St Columba's Catholic College. 2017-08-18.
3. Web site: The Sky So Heavy Teacher's notes. University of Queensland Press. 2017-08-18.
4. Web site: The Protected by Claire Zorn. Arts. Department of Communications and the. 2016-08-05. www.arts.gov.au. en. 2017-08-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20170819190714/https://www.arts.gov.au/pm-literary-awards/past-winners-and-shortlists/winners/2015-winners/protected-claire-zorn. 2017-08-19. dead.
5. 2011. Author biography. Overland.
6. Web site: Claire Zorn. Claire Zorn. en-US. 2017-08-18.
7. Web site: Sydney Writers' Festival: What's God Got to do with It?. 10 May 2019.
8. Web site: UQP - The Sky So Heavy. www.uqp.uq.edu.au. 2017-08-18.
9. Web site: The Sky so heavy Teacher's notes. University of Queensland Press.
10. Web site: One would think the deep. Teacher's notes. University of Queensland Press.
11. News: Claire Zorn's grief-and-surfing story wins children's book of the year award. Convery. Stephanie. 2017-08-17. The Guardian. 2017-08-19. Harmon. Steph. en-GB. 0261-3077.
12. Web site: 2022-01-19. 2022 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature shortlists announced. 2022-01-26. Books+Publishing. en-AU.