Ursula Dubosarsky was born in 1961 as the third child of a literary family in Sydney. She already wanted to be an author at the age of six. At Sydney University she studied English and other languages including Old Icelandic, Latin and Greek. After graduating, she moved to Canberra, spent a year travelling the world and worked in a kibbutz in Israel, among other things. Following that she was an editor at »NSW School Magazine« for many years.Her debut as an author was the picture book »Maisie and the Pinny Gig« (1989), the success of which encouraged her to pursue a career as an author. »The First Book of Samuel« (1995), one of her first novels for young readers tells the story of a fragile family constellation which threatens to fall apart as a result of a momentous lie, and also brings the son Samuel into life-threatening danger. Dubosarsky delivers here an interesting portrait of a patchwork family that examines themes like fate, predetermination, untruth and the importance of communication. Her book »The Red Shoe« (2006) deals with Matilda and her two sisters who are growing up in Sydney in the early fifties. This novel also tells the many-layered story of life in an average family and covers an enormous range of content. »The Red Shoe« is a treatment of the Second World War, a story about the Australian politics of the 1950s, about espionage and treason, about Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale »The Red Shoe« (1845) and, above all, about the everyday lives of three sisters who are influenced again and again by great events in society. The author knits together this panorama, which is richly faceted in the themes it examines, to create an intelligent story for the young reader. »The Golden Day« (2011), Dubosarsky’s most recent novel is about eleven girls in a school class who have to make a difficult decision after their teacher disappears without a trace. The book is both an educational and a coming-of-age novel that is complex in terms of both content and form. »The Golden Day« is impressive in its realistic portrayal of the young, vulnerable characters on the threshold between childish innocence and the years immediately before adulthood who have to learn to deal with issues like responsibility, fear and violence.Dubosarsky has written more than thirty books for young readers to date, for which she has received national and international awards and which have been translated into ten languages. Besides books, Dubosarsky also writes texts for the theatre. She lives with her husband and three children in Marrickville near Sydney.
Ursula Dubosarsky
