Peter McFarlane

Background

Peter McFarlane was born on June 20, 1940, in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. He is a son of William McFarlan, a manager, and Poppy McFarlane, a homemaker.

Education

Peter McFarlane spent his early years in a Glenelg suburb of Adelaide.

He received his secondary education in South Australian high schools. Then, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and Diploma in Education from the University of Adelaide. He also obtained a Diploma in Secondary Teaching at Adelaide Teachers’ College.

Career

Peter McFarlane began his career as an educator. From 1962 to 1969, he taught and coordinated English at the Department of Education and Children’s Services in Adelaide. Then, after two-year service in the capacity of an English teacher and assistant department head at a school in Lambton County, Ontario, McFarlane came back to his work at the Department of Education and Children’s Services where he worked as an English Coordinator and Arts Adviser till 1994.

Although his first poetry collection, ‘My Grandfather’s Horses’ was issued in 1983 and his debut novel, ‘The Tin House’, saw the print in 1991, he abandoned teaching activity and devoted all his time to writing only after receiving a Category ‘A’ Fellowship from the Literature Board of the Australia Council in 1995. Since then, he has produced ten novels.

In addition to his own writings, both prose and poetry, Peter McFarlane has also served as editor for the educational journal of the South Australian English Teachers’ Association ‘Opinion’ and has edited many poetry texts for schools. Besides, McFarlane has served as Publications Officer for the Australian Association for the Teaching of English and has been involved in the activity of Friendly Street Poets publisher since its inaugural meeting in 1975.

In 2000, the two volumes of his book on the teaching of writing, ‘Exploring the Writer’s Craft’, were published by Macmillan Educational.

Achievements

• Peter McFarlane is an accomplished writer and educator whose more than thirty years of teaching experience helped him to produce books characterized by the deep understanding of young people and the delicate expression of such challenging topics like rape, domestic violence, drug addiction, manic depression, and racial friction.
  
  McFarlane received Talking Book of the Year Award for ‘The Enemy You Killed’, Media Peace Prize for ‘Lovebird’, and has been shortlisted for Crows Awards with his ‘Rebecca the Wrecker’.
  
  The author has been a recipient of the Carclew Fellowship from the South Australian Department of the Arts and a Category ‘A’ Fellowship from the Literature Board of the Australia Council. He has also participated as an official guest at such gatherings as the Melbourne Writers Festival, the Adelaide Writers Week, Salamanca Writers Festival, and Voices on the Coast Festival in Maroochydore.
  
  A couple of McFarlane’s works, ‘The Enemy You Killed’ and ‘Lovebird’ have been translated into Italian.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Max the Man Mountain

    (Max is a natural athlete, and when he gets an offer to pl...)

    1997
  • Blue Light Clear Atoms

    (The poetry collection is written in collaboration with Li...)

    1996
  • Soula the Ruler

    (When her tumultuous class puts sweet Ms. Sparrowlark in t...)

    1997
  • The Tin House 1991
  • Lovebird 1993
  • Rebecca the Wrecker 1995
  • The Enemy You Killed 1996
  • Bruce the Goose 1996
  • Betty the Balloon Buster 1996

Views

Quotations: "I think I must have been frozen in time as a child and adolescent. Certainly I can remember my childhood and youth very clearly, and I hope this is reflected in the books and stories for young people of all ages. Luckily, working as a teacher for a great many years, and now as a writer in the schools, has helped to keep me in touch."

"The books for the very young are my attempts to emulate the wild and untrammelled imaginations that the very young bring to the ‘what if problem-solving. As a result there’s a lot of semifantasy, fun, and humor in them. There are also some positive (and wild) solutions to such serious subjects as vandalism, bullying, leadership, and learning. I want my books to entertain and grab the reader, but I like the idea of increasing understanding of serious issues as well."

"My stories go straight in. The kids pick up on that. It’s wonderful to read to them and have their reaction afterwards. Nine times out of ten that’s exactly how they feel."

Membership

Peter McFarlane is a member of the Australian Society of Authors and the South Australia Writers Centre.

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• "Though McFarlane writes about rape, domestic violence, drug addiction, manic depression and racial friction, he does so without sensationalism or cynicism and without resort to the anti-cultural viewpoint that less assured writers adopt as a means of inviting alienated teenage readers." Stephen Matthews, book reviewer
  
  "McFarlane is one of those rare writers who not only impress while you read them but also lurk as a yardstick when you’re reading someone else." Stephen Matthews, book reviewer

Connections

Peter McFarlane married for the first time on May 14, 1962, a teacher Beverlie Betts. The family produced three children named Belinda, Anna, and Alexander.

McFarlane’s second wife became a teacher Jill McLaughlin on August 29, 1980. Jill gave birth to two children named Lucy and Lachlan.

Father:

William McFarlane

Mother:

Poppy McFarlane

Spouse:

Jill McLaughlin

ex-wife:

Beverlie Betts

Daughter:

Belinda McFarlane

Daughter:

Anna McFarlane

Daughter:

Alexander McFarlane

Daughter:

Lucy McFarlane

Son:

Lachlan McFarlane