Australian writer of books for younger readers, young adults, verse novels and poetry.

Catherine Bateson is a poet and writer for young adults and younger readers.

She lives in Kallista with her husband, a rescue dog called Winter,  a wide assortment of tropical fish and whichever children have moved back home as well as her octogenarian mother.

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Latest News

The Hodgepodge, a writer's journal

  • The Night Circus in 5 Bites

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    1. World building – both for what to do and what not to do. Morgenstern’s istorical fantasy world is  rich with carefully conceived elements. As a young adult reader, I know I would have fallen for the circus completely, imagined myself one of the performers and created my own story, using Morgenstern’s circus as my […]

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  • Daisy Johnson in 5 bites

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    Since the publication of her first book of short stories, Fen, 2016,  Johnson has consistently experimented with form, genre and the foundation of her narratives. The standout story in that collection is ‘Fen’ which explores teenage anorexia through a surreal, folkloric lens. Everything Under, 2018 (shortlisted for the Man Booker) is a contemporary re-telling of the […]

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Book Reviews

5 stars
  • For Star:

    Star is an endearing first person narrator who will have the reader cheering for good things to happen to her. At times she is, as her mother accuses, self centred, but this adds to the sense of realism...
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  • For Hanging Out:

    The rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne is explored and gently rocked. Catherine Bateson points out that home is where family and friends are, that the rest is just bonus...
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