ERIN
VINCENT
Erin Vincent is a highly respected
journalist who has worked both here and the in
US for publications such as The Australian, The
Sunday Telegraph, Marie Claire magazine, Grazia magazine,
and America’s biggest selling publication People magazine.
She is also the author of the acclaimed memoir Grief
Girl: My True Story published in Australia
by Pan Macmillan and in the US (where it is in
its 3rd printing) by Random House. In 2007 Grief
Girl was named a New York Public Library’s
Best Book for the Teen Age and was an American
Library Association Best Book for Young Adults
Nominee.
Grief Girl is the story of what happened
to Erin and her two siblings when a speeding tow truck
killed their parents when Erin was 14. It is a story of
grief but it is also a story of humour, hope and eventual
triumph, as Erin focuses not on what happens to you, but
what you do with it. As Erin says... "I want to show
kids and teens you can overcome adversity; that your circumstances
don’t have to determine your whole life – you
have a choice. For me that choice was my education. I knew
that if I did well at school I could have the life I dreamed
of."
In addition to her writing, Erin is much sought after speaker both here and
in the US. She has appeared on a host of national TV and radio programs including
Channel Seven’s Sunrise, ABC’s The Conversation Hour with
Richard Fidler, and Life Matters with Richard Aedy, as well as national
radio programs in America. She has been a keynote speaker at the Society of
Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators annual conference in Los Angeles,
the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, and has given workshops and lectures
at schools, universities, libraries, and bookstores in New York, Los Angeles,
San Diego, and Sydney. As a former theatre actress who received rave reviews
in the Los Angeles Times and the LA Weekly for her varied
performances, Erin loves speaking in front of a live audience. “I know
there’s this myth that most authors don’t like speaking in public,
but I have to say, I actually enjoy it more than sitting alone in my room and
writing!”
In the midst of all of this writing and speaking, Erin decided she wanted to
indulge another passion – fashion. So she obtained a degree in fashion
design and moved to the US where she spent many years working for the world’s
biggest fashion houses – Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, and Ralph Lauren. “Teenagers,
especially girls, love to hear all about my fashion life. Once they know about
my experiences with the world’s biggest photographers, celebrities, and
design houses they listen to anything I have to say about schoolwork, writing,
journalism, and life. It’s a wonderful ice-breaker.”
---------
Praise for ‘Grief Girl’ –
“ I am in awe of books like Erin Vincent's. More than just a story of unbearable
loss, it is a story of survival, it is a story about being orphaned and terrified,
and it is amazing that not only did Erin Vincent carry on--but she became a writer
and shares her story with us, elegant, simple, heartbreaking.” – A.M.
Homes, author
“ A compelling, searingly honest and often bleakly funny account of what
it is like to be unexpectedly orphaned.” - The Age
“ A gripping memoir... Gritty language, a swift pace, and glimpses of humor
amid tragedy make this a page-turner. - School Library Journal, USA
“ After any death, there is bound to be searing anger as well as grief.
In this amazing tale of woe, venality, treachery, larceny and plain old-fashioned
abuse, Erin Vincent tells the story of her parents' death, and the harrowing
Dickensian fallout which then ensued. GRIEF GIRL is a story of righteous indignation,
bruising sorrow but a final triumph that has you cheering for this wonderful
woman by the end.” - Carolyn See, author
To read what Erin has to say about the writing of ‘Grief Girl’ you
can go here.
To
listen in to Richard Fidler’s ABC Radio Conversation
Hour interview with Erin click here.
Back
to Erin Vincent page
|
