Sophie Masson

Born in Indonesia of French parents, who are themselves of Basque, Spanish, Portuguese and French-Canadian descent as well as French, Sophie Masson AM was brought up in France and Australia and now lives in the New England region. She is the award-winning author of over 90 books, for children, young adults and adults, many of which have been published internationally. Her most recent titles for children are the middle-grade historical novel Bold Ben Hall (Walker Books 2025), and the picture book, The Giant (illustrated by Lorena Carrington, MidnightSun Publishing 2025.) Forthcoming is the picture book The Fishmonger and the Pastry Chef (illustrated by Cheryl Orsini, Hardie Grant). Her most recent adult titles, as Sophie Beaumont, are the popular novels The Paris Cooking School(Ultimo Press, 2023) and A Secret Garden in Paris (Ultimo Press, 2024). Forthcoming in November 2025 is a third Sophie Beaumont title, In The Paris Fashion(Ultimo Press).

Sophie has served as Chair of the Australian Society of Authors, the Small Press Network and the New England Writers’ Centre. Currently she is the Director of the New England/NorthWest Region of the Children’s Book Council of Australia (NSW branch) and a founding partner and publishing director of acclaimed New England-based publisher of children’s books, Christmas Press. In 2019 Sophie received an AM in the Order of Australia Awards for her significant service to literature.

I was born to be a writer, to tell stories. Born in Indonesia of French parents who are themselves of mixed ethnicity—Basque, Spanish, Portuguese and French-Canadian as well as French-- and brought up in France and Australia, all my childhood was a story of travelling between cultures, languages(I am still bilingual) and worlds. Stories have been vitally important to me for as long as I can remember, helping d me make sense of the world but also escape its confusions into a magical, immersive experience from which I’d emerge refreshed and inspired. I started to write my own from a very young age, and never really stopped! The magic, freedom and clarity of Story is still something I love and which I always put at the centre of my own work. I write across genres, often mixing them, and across age ranges, from picture books for the youngest listener through to middle grade fiction, young adult fiction and adult fiction. I’ve also written non-fiction on literary and publishing topics, as well as academic research papers around elements of creative practice. As co-director of small locally-based children’s books publisher Christmas Press, I bring my love of Story and industry experience into helping to bring to readers quality, beautiful and wide-ranging books by other authors and illustrators, and I have also loved nurturing new talent through my work with the New England Writers’ Centre.

I’m available for talks, workshops, festivals and conferences, both in person and online: for details see www.sophiemassonpresents.com