Many of the books he has written have been based on his childhood and his travels in Africa. After receiving a grant from the Australia Council Literature Board, Kelleher spent six months of 1996 at the Kessing Writers' Studio in Paris. He moved to Australia in 1976, with his South African wife, Alison, and was associate professor at the University of New England, in Armidale, New South Wales, before moving to Sydney to write full-time. While in New Zealand, he began writing part-time, prompted by homesickness for Africa. He has taught in Africa, New Zealand and Australia. in English Literature from The University of South Africa. Kelleher received a Masters from St Andrew's University and a Ph.D. He spent the next twenty years travelling and studying in Africa, before moving to New Zealand. Kelleher was born in London and moved to Africa with his parents, at the age of fifteen. It explores the complex love-hate relationship between a father and son, and the sometimes painful process of realising that parents are, after all, only human.Victor Kelleher (born 1939) is an Australian author. It asserts the importance of living life on your own terms, and of competing for enjoyment rather than reward. Juggling with Mandarins is a novel about growing up. Along the way, he also finds the courage to confront his father and express his anger and resentment - to publicly claim the right to be his own person and live his life on his own terms. He sets his sights high and finally learns how to juggle not three balls, but five mandarins. When Pip's English teacher challenges her students to learn how to juggle three balls, Pip is determined that he will do better than that. Pip is good at English, like his mother but Pip's father wants him to be a soccer star like Nick, Pip's brother, and to win at any cost. Two, three, four - how many mandarins can Pip juggle? A coming-of-age novel about Pip, whose father wants him to be everything that Pip is not. Award-winning author Greg Pyers presents twists and turns which have the reader guessing and being surprised right to the final page. Soon, Carly and Ace are on the run, running from something Carly cannot begin to understand.ĭouble Cross is a chillingly dark adventure set in a not so distant future and exploring a possible future created by advances in genetic technology.

But when Carly meets Ace, a teenage fugitive, she quickly sees the other, darker side of this new world. It is, after all, 2032 and genetic manipulation is used to produce whatever people want. I just wanted to stop!įor Carly, a world where thylacines once again roam free and cows can produce strawberry milk is normal.

The tractor was bouncing on its suspension, and me with it, like it was actually trying to shake me off.

The gravel was racing by in a blur only centimetres under my backside, while the wheels blasted me with sand and grit.

Earthsong by Victor Kelleher