Dr Helen Edwards Australian Children's Author
Dr Helen Edwards, Australian Children's Author
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Meet Dr Helen Edwards, Children's & YA Author, Speaker & Psychology PhD.

Dr Helen Edwards is an Australian children's & YA author and speaker who weaves diverse stories of nature, magic and history. She also offers a social media marketing and grant writing consultancy for Australian Authors - The Author Fairy.

Helen is a mid-career SA Literary Fellow in 2025, supported by Writers' SA and the State Library of South Australia. She will be working on a new magical historical novel featuring the wreck of the S.S Admella in South Australia and the Cape Jaffa lighthouse, as well as exploring themes of ocean conservation. This project is also supported by the History Trust of South Australia’s South Australian History Fund.

On Gallant Wings is coming on 2nd April 2025 with Riveted Press. It's a sweeping WWII adventure about family, courage and knowing when to break the rules. If you lived your life by rituals and rules, would you break them to save your best friend? Pre-orders now open via bookshops and at Helen's online shop here.

Legend of the Lighthouse Moon is out now with Riveted Press. Rich with folklore and brimming with adventure, it's a dazzling tale of family, resilience, and the enduring magic of the sea. You can buy your copy at bookshops across Australia and at Helen's online shop here.

The Rebels of Mount Buffalo, is out now with Riveted Press. It's a captivating time-slip tale about a girl lost to grief who meets a daring rebel on a misty mountain, who guides her to rediscover her courage and find her way home. This middle-grade novel was shortlisted in the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards. It was also longlisted in the DANZ Children's Book Award. You can buy your copy at Helen's online shop here.

With thanks to Arts SA for supporting the writing of The Rebels of Mount Buffalo and Legend of the Lighthouse Moon.

History Trust grants
On Gallant Wings by Helen Edwards, Australian author
Legend of the Lighthouse Moon by Helen Edwards
speech pathology awards 2024 (3)

Latest from Helen's Blog

Queenie in Seven Moves

Queenie in Seven Moves by Zanni Louise

By Helen Edwards | January 29, 2024

Zanni Lousie is a well-known author of many wonderful picture books for children and a supporter of the children’s literary community in Australia. She runs workshops and retreats for writers, hosts a podcast and mentors other writers. Her first middle grade novel, Queenie In Seven Moves, was published by Walker Books in 2023 and Candlewick…

The Rebels of Mount Buffalo

The Rebels of Mount Buffalo Longlisted for the DANZ Children’s Book Awards!

By Helen Edwards | January 24, 2024

This week I had a wonderful surprise when the longlist for the inaugural DANZ children’s book awards were announced and I found The Rebels of Mount Buffalo on the middle-grade longlist! The DANZ Children’s Book Award, launched for 2024, stands for The Diversity in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand Children’s Book Award. It has been…

Protecting our Oceans

By Helen Edwards | January 14, 2024

Our Nullarbor road trip from SA to WA and back again, more than a decade ago, was one of our best road trips ever. As a lifelong whale lover, the 148 whales in the Bay at the Head of the Bight was the pinnacle for me – Yes, 148! Across my life, I’ve gazed out…

The First Summer of Callie McGee by AL Tait

The First Summer of Callie McGee by A.L. Tait

By Helen Edwards | January 4, 2024

The First Summer of Callie McGee by A.L. Tait was an apt read for me over the Christmas-New Year week. Filled with references to summer in Australia, beachside towns, and the tensions between local and tourist kids, this gentle coming-of-age story with a mystery twist, tells the tale of 12-year-old Callie McGee across one week…

The letterbox tree

The Letterbox Tree by Rebecca Lim & Kate Gordon

By Helen Edwards | November 10, 2023

The Letterbox Tree is by two of my favourite Australian authors, Rebecca Lim and Kate Gordon. As you’d expect from two such talented writers, this upper middle-grade/lower YA novel takes some extremely difficult and very real topics and wraps them up in a warm story of found friendship, self-belief and hope. The story is centred…

Helen at The Gorge with The Rebels of Mount Buffalo

The Rebels of Mount Buffalo Pre-release Road Trip!

By Helen Edwards | October 20, 2023

On a sunny Sunday morning on the 8th October, the Buffalo Rebels Road Crew set off on an adventure to the Nth East of Victoria for The Rebels of Mount Buffalo Pre-release Road Trip! The crew consisted of myself, my husband John, and our 15-year-old son Maxwell. I organised the tour myself, and it took…

Bidhi Galing (Big Rain) by Anita Heiss

Bidhi Galing by Anita Heiss & Samantha Campbell

By Helen Edwards | September 27, 2023

Dr Anita Heiss is an internationally published, award-winning author of 23 books; non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial women’s fiction and children’s novels. She is a proud member of the Wiradyuri Nation of central New South Wales, an Ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation and the GO Foundation, and Professor of Communications at the University of Queensland.…

The Rebels of Mount Buffalo by Helen Edwards Book Tour

Buffalo Rebels Book Tour!

By Helen Edwards | September 6, 2023

It’s just over a month until The Rebels of Mount Buffalo will be released officially into the world! After a long time researching, writing, editing, dreaming, interviewing, planning and working hard with my talented publisher on making the book the best it could be, it feels as if we are standing on the edge of…

Gladys & Stripey by Michele Gierck & Marina Zlatanova

By Helen Edwards | August 31, 2023

Being the smallest fish in the stream is not easy. For Gladys and Stripey, it gets even harder when, after a night of heavy rain, fast flowing water sweeps them out of their home habitat. What can they do? Will they make it back home? This (almost) true story, written by Michele Gierck, is based…

Awards & Memberships

Member logo colour
Individual Project Grant 2023
Individual Project Grant 2023
AOTY_2016_logo_Semi-Stacked (1)
1st Place Winner
Recipient Richard Llewellyn Deaf and Disability Grant 2021
Recipient Richard Llewellyn Deaf and Disability Grant 2021
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