Ken Spillman (born 11 June 1959) is an Australian writer based in Perth, Western Australia, whose work has spanned diverse genres including poetry, sports writing and literary criticism. He is best known as a prolific author of books for children and young adults. His output also includes a large number of books relating to aspects of Australian social history. Early life Born in London to Australian parents, Spillman spent his childhood in Sydney and Perth. He was active in amateur theatre during his teens and also performed in a school rock band. Encouraged to write by a teacher at Newman College, Perth, he began publishing poetry and stories after moving to Brisbane to attend Griffith University. Non-fiction career From 1977 Spillman began an association with Griffith University academic Ross Fitzgerald, researching Fitzgerald's book From the Dreaming to 1915: A History of Queensland. The pair later collaborated in compiling a landmark collection of literary writing on Australian rules football, The Greatest Game, as well as Fathers in Writing. Spillman's first major solo publication was concerning the history of Subiaco, Western Australia, Identity Prized, which was launched by Sir Paul Hasluck, a former Governor-General, at an open-air function attended by more than a thousand people. Spillman returned for a follow-up history of Subiaco some 20 years later. Tied in with writing and research of the Subiaco book, he also conducted interviews which are now part of the Battye Library oral history collection. After completing this book, Spillman worked with Professor Gordon Reid on a thematic history of the Parliament of Australia. Subsequently, Spillman wrote books on mining in Western Australia, Bankwest, the Shire of Mundaring, the Shire of Victoria Plains, Edith Cowan University, a surf lifesaving club, a ballet college, a major hospital and a number of Western Australian schools and sporting clubs. According to Rod Moran, former books editor of The West Australian, "Ken Spillman writes history in a marvellously lucid style, one enhanced further by a keen turn of phrase, or sharp observation, at an appropriate moment in the narrative. He writes the history of institutions with a deep sense of their broader context, and underpins his analysis with an admirable command of the primary sources." In 2008, after the publication of his 17th work of non-fiction, Spillman made it known that he had decided to give priority to his fiction career. Fiction career After a successful full-length fiction debut