What makes a writer?

Letters from Robin is a portrait of Robin Klein, one of Australia's most acclaimed and enduringly popular writers for children. Drawing on published profiles and recent interviews with Robin's family and former colleagues, the book conveys her determination to be a writer from an early age despite childhood poverty and the obligations of other work and domestic life. A third, unique information source are the letters she wrote to Jon Appleton from when he was an 11-year-old 'superfan' in Sydney until he was approaching his mid-twenties.

What makes a reader? Robin Klein's books championed the underdog and challenged oppression. Her characters were battlers and sometimes combative but she offered them lessons in humility and compassion too. All these were traits of the author and her letters to Jon were gently imbued with wisdom and encouragement that inspired his teenage career as a children's literature critic and his work with books and writers today. The book contains entertaining and funny extracts that offer an extra narrative alongside the books, which are explored with insight and humour.

Letters from Robin celebrates the enduring collaboration between readers and writers. How many of us return, time and again, to childhood favourites for renewed comfort and courage? This book is for anyone who wants to know how a writing life works and to be reminded how rich and rewarding a reading life can be.



About the Author

Jon Appleton was born in Sydney in 1974. At Naremburn Public School in the early 1980s he discovered a world of Australian children's authors who spoke to him intimately and at SCECGS Redlands he created a magazine called Rippa Reading to celebrate their processes, personalities and prose. Upon completing a BA at Sydney University he moved to London in 1996, where he still lives, and worked in children's publishing in-house for twenty years. He now works as a freelance editor, writing tutor and mentor, and is active in researching the history of children's books from 1970 in both the UK and Australia. You can find him on the websites www.janmark.net and www.lettersfromrobin.com.