Gary Crew began writing fiction in 1985. Because of his teaching background and his own teenage children, he entered the Teenage Fiction for Young Adult genre and has subsequently published 12 novels in that field. He has twice been awarded the Children's Book Council of Australia, Book of the Year for Older Readers [Strange Objects in 1991 and Angel's Gate in 1993].
Gary has also been twice short listed for the Edgar Allan Poe Mystery Fiction Award for Youth in the U.S. and awarded the American Children's Book of distinction. Among his many awards in the Ned Kelly Prize for Crime Fiction. [1996]
He also specializes in fiction texts for Illustrated Books for Older Readers. He has won the CBC Book of the Year twice in the Picture Book Category. [First Light in 1993 and The Watertower in 1994.] He was short listed for this award in 2000 with Memorial.
His main interest is to research non-fiction events then transpose them into fiction. He also writes Crime and Science Fiction short stories for both youth and adult audiences. He is the series Editor of Lothlan's After Dark series of Macabre Tales. His books are published internationally - from Greenland to New York.
Gary lives with his wife Christine. Their children Rachel, Sarah and Joel are all adults and living in Brisbane.
Gary is also a lecturer in Creative Writing, Children's and Adult Literature at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He is the Chair of the Queensland Writers' Centre.