Paul Jennings


Photo of Paul Jennings
Paul Jennings was born in Heston near London, and at the age of 6 emigrated to Melbourne, Australia. He attended Bentleigh West Primary School and Caulfield Grammar School.

After graduating from school, he went to Frankston Teachers College and became a teacher. He taught students at Frankston State School, Kangaroo Flat State School, the Turana Youth Training Centre, and the Royal Children's Hospital State School in Mount Eliza. He later went on to study at the Lincoln Institute of Health Science and became a speech pathologist, then worked as a Lecturer in Special Education at Burwood State College. In 1979 he became Senior Lecturer in Language and Literature at Warrnambool Institute of Advanced Education.

In 1985, Jennings' first book of short stories, Unreal! was published, during which he worked as a lecturer and wrote part-time, but in 1989 he made the decision to devote his full time to writing. Many of his short stories, published between 1985 and 1991, were also adapted into the first and second series of the popular Australian television show Round the Twist. Paul has six grown up children and nine grandchildren. In his spare time he loves walking along the foreshore and spending time with his family and friends.



Author's Comment: Many people ask me, 'What's it like to be a writer, Paul Jennings?' Well, it's a great life. I don't think I would want to do anything else. I get an enormous amount of mail from all over the world. I always think how lucky I am that people like my stories so much that they take the time to let me know. That's really great.

Nationality: Australian

Featured series by Paul Jennings


Don't Look Now - Age 7 & up