Glenden

Hickson

Early life

I was born and raised in Gippsland, before moving to Kangaroo Flat for my teenage years. I have lived most of my life in rural and regional Victoria, Australia.

Throughout my youth I enjoyed disappearing into books alone and in silence with just the sounds of birds outside. This was at my grandparent’s farm in Gippsland, where the sounds of civilisation were replaced with the sounds of nature. I became fascinated with history and stories from the past, folk tales from various cultures and how fantasy and imagination can inspire and educate. Most importantly, can take people to better places.

I enjoyed modern authors from Roald Dahl to RL Stine to Paul Jennings. I owe much to their style when writing for younger people.

Throughout my childhood, the teachers that inspired me the most were the storytellers. From Miss Symcox to Mrs Tattnall, to Mr Williams. They opened my eyes to different authors and how to hold a class captivated through the power of storytelling. They showed me how stories can be powerful tools to impart knowledge and experiences to help people learn.

“It didn’t take long before I was concocting my own tales, privately and then to share with others, eventually with my daughter.”

As I continued to read more widely, I became exposed to the styles and ideas of philosophers and thinkers, and more challenging writers. I like to explore some of their concepts in my stories, even for young people.

These ideas can give readers tools to use when navigating throughout their lives. I like to give a voice to the voiceless and those that feel like they can’t speak. Most importantly, I like people to know that they are not alone in their journey, and that what they experience has most likely been experienced by others as well. There are always ways to get through life’s labyrinth.

  • I now have experienced 20 years teaching Literature, English, Philosophy and History in various schools throughout Victoria. I try to use stories in order to engage and present concepts for young people to learn and experience.

  • Many of the stories that I have written for my daughter, have been adapted for the classroom. At first, I used different names for the authors, as I was embarrassed, but as my stories began to be used in other schools, I decided to put together my first anthology. Hold Your Tongue, with the great artist Chris Wyatt jumping on board to do the illustrations.

  • I still teach Literature, History, Philosophy and English. I still live in regional Victoria. And when I’m not teaching and writing, I enjoy music, sports, getting into nature, and hanging out with my friends and family.