Being Jimmy Baxter

Fiona was born in the beautiful North-East of England near picturesque countryside, windswept beaches and the vibrant cultural city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She dreamed of writing in a cosy country cottage and of life as a theatre actress but, as it often does, life got in the way.

Working and travelling instead, Fiona floated in the Dead Sea, climbed the Sydney Harbour bridge, gave guided tours in Holland and fell in love with all things Greek during her two years in Athens and Skiathos. Her most special travel experience was in Myanmar where she visited the place where her Granny was born.

Amongst her myriad of interesting jobs, Fiona was a television colourist on Home & Away, This is Greece and Secrets of Britain’s Great Cathedrals. In 2020, Fiona became a founding member of the Central Coast’s Words on the Waves Writers Festival, and now works as the Children and Young People’s Program Manager.

Being Jimmy Baxter, her debut middle-grade novel, won the 2024 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Award in the 8-10 year category, and was short-listed for the 2024 CBCA awards and South Australian Literary Awards. It was also selected by Meerkat Productions for a theatre-in-education adaptation, touring schools across 5 states in Australia.