Mem Fox | |
|---|---|
 Fox speaking to audience in 2014 | |
| Born | Merrion Frances Partridge 5 March 1946 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Pen name | "Mem" Fox |
| Occupation | Author |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Education | Flinders University |
| Genre | Children literature |
| Notable works | Possum Magic |
| Notable awards | Nan Chauncy Award, 2017 |
Merrion Frances Fox AM (née Partridge; born 5 March 1946) is an Australian writer of children's books and an educationalist specialising in literacy. Fox has been semi-retired since 1996, but she still gives seminars and lives in Adelaide, South Australia.[1]
Merrion Frances Partridge was born in Melbourne on 5 March 1946 to Nancy and Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge. In October, her parents left Australia to become teaching missionaries of Hope Fountain Mission in Rhodesia, and Partridge and her two sisters grew up and were educated in Africa. She was the only white child at the mission school. After authorities found out, she was forced to go to an all-white school and was teased for having an African accent. After graduating high school, she did volunteer work in a conference centre of the World Council of Churches near Geneva, Switzerland.[2][3][4]
Partridge dreamed of pursuing a stage career. Her father reluctantly agreed to send her to an English drama school on the condition that she would attend Rose Bruford College in London, which also included a compulsory teaching degree. In 1965, she began three years at drama school and discovered that "she didn't really want to act, but she did want to be known." She also met fellow student Malcolm Fox. After marrying in 1969, they moved to Rwanda, then England and finally Adelaide, South Australia.[2] Their daughter Chloe was born in 1971.[4]
In Adelaide, Fox applied for a radio job at ABC. She only had irregular parts in radio plays and began teaching as she did not get paid enough money. By 1973, Fox had signed up to teach drama full-time at Sturt's Teachers University.[2]
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Main article: Possum Magic |
When her daughter was seven, Fox decided to take a course in children's literature at Flinders University because of Chloe's love of reading. One of the assignments was to write a children's book, for which Fox wrote a story named Hush the Invisible Mouse. Her professor encouraged her to publish it, and it was illustrated by Julie Vivas, a student in the art department. It was rejected nine times over five years before Omnibus Books accepted it, but asked her to rewrite it more lyrically, cut two-thirds of the story and change the mice to possums.[2][5]
In 1983, the book was published as Possum Magic. It follows Hush, a possum whose Grandma Poss turns her invisible to protect him from the bush. Now considered a classic in Australian children's literature, Possum Magic is Australia's bestselling children's book.[4][6]
In 1984, Fox's second book Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge was published by Omnibus Books. It follows a boy who helps his elderly neighbour recover her lost memory through gifts.[6] The title of the book was the name of her father.[7]
The book Guess What? ranks number 66 on the American list of the 100 most-challenged books 1990 to 2000.[8] Groups and agencies can challenge a book to prevent it from being available to be read by the general public. The book has now been banned in Duval County, Florida on accusations that the book contains pornographic material. The specific section that troubled censors involves the main character taking a bath.[9]
In 1981, while working in drama, Fox decided to retrain in literacy studies. She said: "Literacy has become the great focus of my life – it's my passion, my battle and my mission and my exhaustion".[1] She has published books on literacy aimed at children, their parents, teachers and educators. She held the position of Associate Professor, Literacy Studies, in the School of Education at Flinders University until her retirement in 1996.[1] Since her retirement from teaching, Fox travels around the world visiting many countries and doing presentations and speaking on children's books and literacy issues.[1] Following an interrogation by US immigration officials on a trip in February 2017 to deliver a keynote speech in Milwaukee, Fox said that she would probably never visit the US again.[10]
Fox is married to teacher Malcolm Fox. Her daughter, Chloë Fox, is a former member of the South Australian House of Assembly.[11][12] As she dislikes her given, legal name, Fox began using her nickname "Mem" around thirteen years of age.[13]
