Asphyxia (author)

Australian writer

Asphyxia

Born| Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation| Author, artist, public speaker, activist, puppeteer
Nationality| Australian
Period| 2012–present
Genre| Children's fiction Young Adult fiction
Notable works| Future Girl, The Words in My Hands, The Grimstones book series
Children| 1
Website
asphyxia.com.au

Asphyxia is a deaf Australian artist, writer, activist and public speaker. She is the author of Future Girl (Australian title) / The Words in My Hands (North American title), and winner of the Readings YA Book Award 2021.[1] The book was selected by Kirkus as best YA fiction for 2021,[2] by The Guardian as one of the top 20 best Australian books for 2020,[3] and as a notable book for 2021 by the Children's Book Council of Australia,[4] and for the Great Books Guide top books of 2021.[5] The book was also shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2021,[6] the Australian Book Industry Award 2021,[7] and the Aurelis Award 2020.[8] Asphyxia has joined forces with Orange Entertainment Co to adapt the book for the screen.[9]

Formerly a puppeteer, she is also the author of the children's series The Grimstones,[10] which won the APA Book Design Awards Best Designed Children's Series in 2013.[11]

## Life and career

[edit]

She was born in Melbourne, the second eldest of eight children, being nicknamed Asphyxia by one of her brothers when she was a teenager. Being the eldest, and creative from a young age, she took it upon herself to create magical words of mystical creatures in which she enrolled her younger siblings and cousins to be a part.[12] She attended a hearing school, and did not learn Auslan until she was 18, as her parents wanted her to have a high standard of education, and were not satisfied with the standard of the education for the deaf.[12]

As a child, she had dreams of being a ballerina, but they disintegrated once it became clear her deafness prohibited this as a professional career, and after the Australian Ballet School turned her down because of her deafness.[13][14] Instead, once she left school, she turned to circus, training with Circus Oz, specialising in the trapeze and hula-hoops.[10] Here she discovered she could incorporate her deafness into her work rather than trying to hide it, realising it could enhance what she did. One of the ways she did this was by signing karaoke, which was a big success with her audiences.[14]

After being a circus performer for ten years, Asphyxia discovered puppetry through Sergio Barrio, a master puppeteer, whom she discovered when overseas touring with her show, and begged him to teach her his craft.[15] She then leapt into it whole heartedly, learning how to make her own puppets and sets for them. After some experimentation, she ended up with a gothic family which she named "The Grimstones". She then left the circus to travel around Australia performing with her puppets, which was a big success, and captivated children and adults alike.[15]

After a couple of years of touring with her puppet family, Asphyxia got a call from the publishers Allen & Unwin, who told her that they thought that The Grimstones would make a great book. She embraced the idea, as she had always had aspirations to be an author, entering her first book when she was 12 in the St Kilda Writer's Festival where it won first place.[16] In February 2012 she published the first of four books in the series, Hatched.[17] The next three in the series, Mortimer Revealed (April 2012),[11] Whirlwind (December 2012)[16] and Music School (December 2013)[18] soon followed. Future Girl (August 2020) won the 2021 Readings Young Adult Book Prize.[19]

For 20 years, Asphyxia lived in a small cottage in inner city Melbourne which she built herself when she was just 22,[20] with her partner and son. She now lives on a small farm in Northern NSW, Australia, where she combines food growing with art.[21] She enjoys painting and other forms of art and creativity, which she shares with the world through her blog.[22]

Her website also contains useful resources such as a free Auslan course[23] and a music course she wrote for Deaf people.[24]

## Bibliography

[edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (July 2022)

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### Novels

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* Future Girl (2020)[25]
* Published in the United States as The Words in My Hands (2021)[26]

The Grimstones series

1. Hatched (2012)
2. Mortimer Revealed (2012)
3. Whirlwind (2012)
4. Music School (2013)

* The Grimstones Collection (2015)

### Critical studies and reviews of Asphyxia's work

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Future Girl

* Chandler, Benjamin (January–February 2021). "The End of the World: Three New Young Adult Novels". Australian Book Review. 428: 47–48.

## References

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1. ^ "Asphyxia wins the Readings Young Adult Book Prize 2021 by Kealy Siryj & Xiao-Xiao Kingham".
2. ^ "Best YA Fiction of 2021".
3. ^ "Kate Grenville, Sofie Laguna, Julia Baird and others: The 20 best Australian books of 2020". TheGuardian.com. 16 December 2020.
4. ^ "CBCA".
5. ^ "Great Books Guide 2021: For readers aged 12+".
6. ^ "Shortlist Announced for the 2021 Indie Book Awards". 19 January 2021.
7. ^ "ABIA 2021 Shortlist". 11 April 2021.
8. ^ "2020 Aurealis Awards Shortlist Announcement". 31 March 2021.
9. ^ "Orange Entertainment Co. Options Asphyxia novel 'Future Girl', hires Diya Eid and Aven Yap". 22 September 2021.
10. ^ a b "Meet Deaf Performer and Puppeteer Asphyxia". ABC Radio National. 13 October 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
11. ^ a b "Mortimer Revealed: The Grimstones 2 – Asphyxia – 9781742376899". Allen & Unwin – Australia. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
12. ^ a b Best, Paul (23 August 2012). "Curtains for puppets, but plenty to say". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
13. ^ "Blood Makes Noise". The Age. 10 March 2005. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
14. ^ a b "Musical sign of the times". The Age. 14 September 2007. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
15. ^ a b Jeffery, Eve (30 July 2014). "Asphyxia pulls the strings of delight – The Echo". Echonetdaily. Byron Shire Echo. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
16. ^ a b "Whirlwind: The Grimstones 3 - Asphyxia - 9781743313008". Allen & Unwin – Australia. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
17. ^ "Hatched: the Grimstones 1 by Asphyxia | World of Books Australia". World of Books. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
18. ^ "Music School: The Grimstones 4 - Asphyxia - 9781743316252". Allen & Unwin – Australia. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
19. ^ "'Future Girl' wins 2021 Readings YA book prize". Books+Publishing. 16 July 2021. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
20. ^ Purcell, John (5 March 2013). "Asphyxia, author of The Grimstones Series, answers Ten Terrifying Questions". The Booktopian. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
21. ^ "Authors & Illlustrators".
22. ^ "Asphyxia | art, books & inspiration". Asphyxia. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
23. ^ "Learn Auslan Level 1". 5 August 2020.
24. ^ "GarageBand Songwriting for Deaf and HoH". 20 October 2020.
25. ^ "Future Girl - Asphyxia - 9781760294373 - Allen & Unwin - Australia".
26. ^ The Words in My Hands.

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Australia

People|

* Trove