Mark Carthew

Dr Mark Carthew is an award winning Australian children’s author, poet, musician and playwright well known for his books and series celebrating language, humour and wordplay. His illustrated play script series VoiceWorks has sold over one million titles worldwide. Mark’s rhyme and riddle books Newts, Lutes and Bandicoots, Wicked Wizards & Leaping Lizards and Witches’ Britches, Itches & Twitches! were created in collaboration with renowned UK illustrator Mike Spoor. Mark’s picture books include Five Little Owls illustrated by Crichton award winning illustrator Mini Goss and The Gobbling Tree, winner of Speech Pathology Australia’s 2009 Book of the Year. His anthology Can You Keep a Secret? Timeless rhymes to share and treasure illustrated by Jobi Murphy was a Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable Book.

Mark has extensive experience in trade and education editing and publishing with over 100 + books, as well as numerous anthologies, poems and songs published with Australian and international publishers. Mark is a former Board Member of Australian Society of Authors (ASA), May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust Fellow and the inaugural 2022 University of South Australia (UniSA) Irwin Ermidis Visiting Research Fellow.

Mark has a PhD in Writing from Swinburne University and he is currently a Teacher Librarian / Literature Specialist at Berwick Lodge Primary School, Victoria, Australia and an Adjunct Research Fellow with Swinburne University of Technology. Mark’s recent picture books include The Moose is Loose! illustrated by Matt Stanton & published by Harper Collins Publishers / ABC Books, The Great Zoo Hullabaloo! illustrated by Anil Tortop and three new books in the Marvin & Marigold series ill. by Simon Prescott (UK); Marvin & Marigold The Big Sneeze, Marvin & Marigold: A Christmas Surprise and Marvin & Marigold: A Stormy Night. 2020 has seen the release of a special 10th Anniversary Edition of the CBCA Notable verse and song anthology Can You Keep a Secret? Timeless rhymes to share and treasure and The Dingle Dangle Jungle ill. by Dave Atze (*Shortlisted for the Educational Publishing Awards Australia).

Mark’s recent picture book, The Thing That Goes Ping!, illustrated by Shane McG, was awarded Speech Pathology Australia's 2021 Book of Year Award in the Five-8 years category.

Two new picture books are scheduled for upcoming release: BERT and BILLY ill. by Shane McG (Nov 2026) and Ten Green Bogles, ill. Dave Atze (Feb 2027). Both books are published by Leaping Lizards Press and distributed by Simon & Schuster Australia / NZ.