Dr Nick Earls is the author of eleven books, including the bestselling novels Zigzag Street, Bachelor Kisses, Perfect Skin and World of Chickens.

He has an honours degree in Medicine from the University of Queensland and was named UQ's Alumnus of the Year in 2006.

His work has been published internationally in English and also in translation. This led to him being a finalist in the Premier of Queensland’s Awards for Export Achievement in 1999.

Zigzag Street won a Betty Trask Award in the UK in 1998 and is currently being developed into a feature film. Bachelor Kisses was one of Who Weekly’s Books of the Year in 1998 and is currently being adapted for television. Perfect Skin was the only novel nominated for an Australian Comedy Award in 2003.

He has written four novels featuring teenage central characters. 48 Shades of Brown was awarded Book of the Year (older readers) by the Children’s Book Council in 2000, and in the US it was a Kirkus Reviews selection in its Books of the Year for 2004. A feature film adapted from the novel was released in Australia by Buena Vista International in August 2006. His earlier young-adult novel, After January, was also an award winner.

After January, 48 Shades of Brown, Zigzag Street and Perfect Skin have all been successfully adapted for theatre by Brisbane's La Boite Theatre Company and the Zigzag Street play toured nationally in 2005.

Nick Earls was the founding chair of the Australian arm of international aid agency War Child and is now a War Child ambassador. He has also been patron of Kids Who Make a Difference and Hands on Art and an honorary ambassador for both the Mater Foundation and the Abused Child Trust in Queensland. On top of that, he was the face of Brisbane Marketing’s ‘Downtown Brisbane’ and ‘Experience Brisbane’ campaigns from 2001-3.

(Source: http://www.nickearls.com/nickbio.html)