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June 10, 2026

Member Spotlight: Mem Fox

Our June member spotlight is the legendary Mem Fox. Mem is Australia’s foremost writer of picture books for young children. A household name and a favourite author of anyone with little ones in their life, her books have entertained and comforted generations of Australians.
 
Born in Melbourne, Mem grew up in Zimbabwe and studied drama in England before returning to Australia in 1970. She now lives in Adelaide. Her books have sold millions of copies, won multiple awards and are still regularly featured in Top Ten Australian picture book bestseller lists. Possum Magic (1983) and Where is the Green Sheep? (2004) have become beacons of children’s literature for millions of Australian families.
 
She has written over 45 children’s books including Time for Bed (1993) which spent three years on the New York Times best-seller list; Ten Little Fingers, Ten Little Toes (2008) and the beloved Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge (1984). Mem’s latest book is Meerkat Mayhem, illustrated by Judy Horacek, was published in November 2024. Her books have been translated into twenty-three languages.
 
Mem is a retired Associate Professor of Literacy Studies from Flinders University, South Australia, where she taught teachers for 24 years. The recipient of an array of awards, Mem was awarded an AM for services to the cultural life of Australia in 1993 and the Llyod O’Neil Award for lifetime services to the Australian publishing industry in 2026.
 

 

Congratulations on being the 2026 Lloyd O’Neil Award recipient! ! What does receiving this award mean to you?

It’s an honour not lightly bestowed: a stupendous compliment for a life’s work. I think I might be the happiest, most humbled writer in the country.

What inspired you to begin a writing career?

I had loved writing from childhood, but as an adult, the lack of authentic Australian books for my own Australian child made me wild with a kind of national rage, and catapulted me into writing Possum Magic as an assignment at Uni.

What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the start of your career?

Oh, heavens! Everything! I wish I’d known that a picture book should be under 500 words and the shorter the better; I wish I’d known that a picture book is almost always 32 pages, half of which are illustrations; I wish I’d known that I would receive only 5% of the recommend retail price for each book; I wish I’d known how important it is to have an agent; I wish I’d foreseen the incredible value in having good editors and bowing to their suggestions. I wish I’d known that the publisher would find and manage the illustrator— it’s not the writer’s job. (I did join the ASA early on. I didn’t need to be told about the importance of the union movement!).

Which Australian authors or illustrators have been influential for you?

I grew up in Africa and was greatly influenced by children’s classics, such as Blinky Bill and Snugglepot & Cuddlepie, and children’s novels, especially Possum by Mary Grant Bruce.

Why are you a member of the ASA?

As a true believer, in my opinion every worker should be a member of a union. Unions make us strong enough to be economically protected against the possible actions of the possible bastards out there.

Find out more about Mem Fox Martin at https://memfox.au.

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