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Irini Savvides Irini Savvides i(A64776 works by)
Born: Established: 1967 Sydney, New South Wales, ;
Gender: Female
Heritage: Greek Cypriot
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BiographyHistory

Irini Savvides grew up in Sydney in an extended Greek Cypriot family. She holds a Master of Arts from Macquarie University and a Master of Education from Sydney University, and has worked as an English and drama teacher.

Savvides has lived in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, and says that being a writer 'means hours and hours of solitary work, researching, planning, drafting, editing, thinking and playing with text until it is shaped into something that feels just right.' Her novels usually present 'small snippets of time woven together in different text types' as she believes that 'the complexity of the time frames shifting help to highlight the fact that each character is as influenced by their past as their present.'

Source: The Random House Reading Guide for Aliki Says, http://www.randomhouse.com.au/ Sighted 2009

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Sky Legs Sydney : Sceptre , 2003 Z1004271 2003 single work novel young adult (taught in 1 units)

'Eleni moves to a village in the clouds, where the blue mountains and the sky seem to stretch forever but, surprisingly, people's minds don't. She's been hoping that she can make a new start and leave behind the sense of loss and the low self-esteem that she has been struggling with for most of her life. But this is the kind of place where she'll never fit in. And Eleni is definitely different! So when she and her friends come up against small-mindedness, they find a way to fight it and to change attitudes - beginning with their own. Eleni draws unexpected strength from her mother's determination to live triumphantly and realises that even in her bleakest moments, her life has been transformed by various kinds of magic and more than once has been touched by angels.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.
2003 winner Children's Peace Literature Award
y separately published work icon Willow Tree and Olive Sydney : Hodder Headline Australia , 2001 Z919810 2001 single work novel young adult 'Willow Tree and Olive tracks the journey of an Australian girl of Greek extraction, called Olive, in her final year of school. Like any adolescent, Olive is trying to deal with friends, teachers and family, while also trying to reconcile her Greek heritage with contemporary Australian culture. The usual tumultuous complexities of a multicultural adolescence are further complicated for Olive when a long suppressed trauma leads to a major life crisis.' (From the Catholic Weekly, 9 September 2001)
2002 joint winner The Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist of the Year
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Last amended 18 Jan 2013 14:09:41
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