Tristan Bancks tells stories for the page and screen. His books for kids and teens include Two Wolves, The Fall, Detention, Cop & Robber, Ginger Meggs, the Tom Weekly series and, most recently, Scar Town, a suspense-thriller. His books have won and been shortlisted for many awards, including a Children’s Book Council of Australia Honour Book, the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, and the YABBA children’s choice book awards. Scar Town was named the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book of the Year for Younger Readers.
Tristan is an author-advocate for literacy non-profit Room to Read. He is currently working with producers to develop a number of his books for the stage and screen. He’s excited by the future of storytelling and inspiring others to create. You can find out more about Tristan’s books, play games, watch videos, join his Young Writer’s StorySchool and help him try to change the world at tristanbancks.com
Tristan's Latest Books:
(See Tristan's Videos and individual Book Trailers in LINKS)
Scar Town (2023)
A missing father. A drowned town. A buried secret. Three friends on a dangerous mission to uncover the truth. Seven years after Old Scarborough was drowned, a house is emerging from the water. Will and his friends Dar and Juno dare each other to explore it. But when they find bones – and a stash of cash – they realise they’re not the only ones interested in its secrets. Now they’re fighting for their lives against the men who want what they found. Will can’t leave the mystery alone, though. What if the bones belong to his missing dad? A DANGEROUS JOURNEY TO UNCOVER THE TRUTH IN A TOWN THAT WANTS THE PAST TO STAY BURIED.
Cop & Robber (2022)
If your mum was a cop and your dad was a crim who needed your help to commit a crime, would you do it to save him? At what cost? Nash Hall's dad is a criminal who just can't seem to go straight. He wants Nash to help him commit a robbery. A big one. The trouble is, Nash's mum is a cop. And the robbery is at Nash's school. But Dad owes a lot of money to some very dangerous people and if Nash doesn't help him do the job, it could cost both their lives.
Ginger Meggs (2021)
Celebrating 100 years of the iconic character and Aussie legend Ginger Meggs, these four brand new and original stories are written by Tristan Bancks, the great-great nephew of original creator Jimmy Bancks, and illustrated in full colour by the current Meggs comic strip artist, Jason Chatfield. Kids and grown-ups alike will revel in the rambunctious adventures and comical capers of the ginger kid who never gets old.
Detention (2019)
Sima and her family are pressed to the rough, cold ground among fifty others. They lie next to the tall fence designed to keep them in. The wires are cut one by one. When they make their escape, a guard raises the alarm. Shouting, smoke bombs, people tackled to the ground. In the chaos Sima loses her parents. Dad told her to run, so she does, hiding in a school and triggering a lockdown. A boy, Dan, finds her hiding in the toilet block. What should he do? Help her? Dob her in? She’s breaking the law, but is it right to lock kids up? And if he helps, should Sima trust him? Or run?This moment, these decisions, will change their lives.
The Fall (2017)
In the middle of the night, Sam is woken by angry voices from the apartment above.He goes to the window to see what’s happening – only to hear a struggle, and see a body fall from the sixth-floor balcony. Pushed, Sam thinks.Sam goes to wake his father Harry, a crime reporter, but Harry is gone. And when Sam goes downstairs, the body is gone, too. But someone has seen Sam, and knows what he’s witnessed.The next twenty-four hours could be his last.
My Life & Other Weaponised Muffins (2017)
Have you ever been trapped inside a runaway car? Have you broken a world record? Is there someone in your class who will stop at nothing to kiss you? Have you ever tricked your dog into doing your homework? Or found something seriously disgusting in your food? Have you sold head lice for fun and profit? Or has your mum ever used raspberry and white chocolate muffins as weapons of minor destruction?I’m Tom Weekly and all of these things have happened to me. I’ve captured them here in stories, jokes, cartoons, quizzes and lists. Believe me, real life is weirder than anything you can make up.
Two Wolves (2014)
One afternoon, police officers show up at Ben Silver's front door. Minutes after they leave, his parents arrive home. Ben and his little sister Olive are bundled into the car and told they're going on a holiday. But are they? It doesn't take long for Ben to realise that his parents are in trouble. Ben's always dreamt of becoming a detective – his dad even calls him ‘Cop'. Now Ben gathers evidence and tries to uncover what his parents have done. The problem is, if he figures it out, what does he do? Tell someone? Or keep the secret and live life on the run?
Online Talks and Workshops
Tristan has been innovative in creating content that caters for teachers and students operating in physical and/or social isolation.Check out the options in his Online Talks and Workshops tab (above) for the latest initiatives.
Awards & Nominations:
Scar Town Awards
Winner 2024 Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards, Younger Readers
Winner 2024 Children’s Book Council of Australia Shadow Judging Award
Winner 2024 South Australian Literary Awards, Children’s Literature Award
Winner 2024 YABBA & KOALA Children’s Choice Book Awards
Shortlisted 2024 BookPeople (Australian Booksellers’ Association) Book of the Year
The Guardian’s 2023 Best Australian Children’s Book of the Year List
Cop & Robber Awards
2023 Winner: YABBA and KOALA Children’s Choice Book Awards
2023 Shortlist: Indie Book Awards, Young Adult category
Detention Awards
2020 CBCA Book of the Year Younger Readers Notable Book
Winner: YABBA & KOALA Children’s Choice Awards
Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) Shortlist
NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Shortlist
QLD Literary Awards Finalist
Two Wolves Awards
Winner, YABBA & KOALA Children’s Choice Book Awards 2015 and 2018
Honour Book, Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards, 2015
Shortlisted, Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2015
Winner, Byron Writers Festival Books to Screen pitching competition 2016
The Fall Awards
Shortlisted WAYRBA Children’s Choice Book Awards, 2019
Winner, YABBA & KOALA Children’s Choice Book Awards 2015 and 2018
Shortlisted, Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, 2018
Notable Book, Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards, 2018
Tom Weekly Series Award
Shortlisted, KOALA and YABBA Children’s Choice Book Awards, 2014-16
1. Young Writers' StorySchool is Tristan's brand new online video writing masterclass program for students aged 9-14. It is 24 x 3-4-minute videos to supercharge the writing process in the classroom with comprehensive teachers’ notes and activity sheets. Like having an author in the classroom all year round. See the trailer here and the first video lesson at www.youngwritersstoryschool.com.
2. Alongside StorySchool, Tristan is also innovating in the live online talk space. He is now delivering most of his live school talks via Zoom, WebEx, Teams, Meet and also as streamable hour-long videos for flexible individual or classroom viewing. The videos are high-energy with all the images, video, music, maps, readings, humour and anecdotes of Tristan's in-person talks. Lots of inspiration to read and create. They’re tailored to each school and Tristan will answer 10 questions from the school’s students at the end. See a two-minute sample video here.
3. Tristan is doing a limited number of in-person school visits in 2022.
TALKS
1. My Life & Other Stuff I Made Up
Autobiographical talk using anecdotes, images, video and the Web to trace how Tristanʼs books relate to his life story. From schoolboy in Sydneyʼs Blue Mountains to teen TV actor and presenter in Australia and London, through travel and university to filmmaking and life as an author. Discover the books Tristan loves to read, how he finds inspiration and how he makes a living telling stories for page and screen. Along the way, have lots of laughs, gain valuable tips on using your own life to inspire your stories and help create a weird, funny, gross short story for My Life book three.
2. Two Wolves
Tristanʼs middle-grade novel Two Wolves is a collision of Nature and technology. Discover why he wrote the book mostly outdoors and how he took pictures of real-life locations and gathered news stories to build the world of the book. Hear a short reading, see the TV news story book trailer, sample the soundtrack and get inspired to read, and even to write your own crime / mystery story.
3. Vision Boarding
One of Tristanʼs most popular talks. From soundtracks to storyboarding, movie trailers to animation, writing a book can be a totally 3D experience. See his Vision Board, which helps him create his books. Learn techniques on how you can fuse TV, the web, video, music, maps, apps and old-fashioned books to write your own stories.
NB: Tristan can tailor talks to address specific areas of the curriculum.
All of Tristanʼs talks and most of his workshops can be delivered remotely via Skype, Google Hangout and other video conferencing tools. A great option for regional visits to cut down on travel costs. It is also a good option for an ongoing series of workshops and interactions with students. A brilliant use of the technology now available in most classrooms.
WORKSHOPS
1. Your Life & Other Stuff You Made Up
How can you use all the odd, boring, funny stuff that happens to you and turn it into excellent stories? Author Tristan Bancks used bits from his life to inspire his short story collections My Life and Other Stuff I Made Up and My Life & Other Stuff That Went Wrong. Like the time his sister made him eat Vegemite off her toe and the time he had his appendix removed just to get out of school detention. Learn how to mine your own life for cool, weird, funny stories that your friends and teachers will love.
2. Story Safari – An Outdoor Writing Adventure
Participants observe, experience and let the world around them rush onto the page. The forward-motion and physical exercise bring the writing experience alive, forging new and unexpected stories. Can be done in the school playground! http://bit.ly/xror8X (Inspired by Tristan’s writing process on his book Two Wolves.)
3. Tell Stories Like a Filmmaker
Discover storytelling tools that I learnt while working in TV & film. Find out how cinematic story tools can make writing more engaging and fun. Filmmaking tools help with worldbuilding, imagery, detail, voice, pacing and other important facets of storytelling.
4. Introduction to Short Story Writing
A hands-on 1–5-hour workshop discovering the basics of writing a short story:
Freewriting, Drafting, Rewriting, Detail and ensuring your idea fits short story form.
5. Writing From the Inside Out
In-depth writing workshop for very keen / talented writers aged 10+ wanting to take their work to the next level and excavate the stories locked inside them. This workshop goes beyond ʻGetting Startedʼ and plunges into Voice, Setting, Character Development, Conflict, Plotting, Analysis of Great Writersʼ Work and saying more by saying less.
Testimonials
Tristan is a great presenter and we loved hosting him. He is engaging and approachable. He spoke to students with relevant details and in an inspiring manner. We will be talking about his visit for weeks to come!
Calvary Christian College - July, 2025Tristan is fantastic. His presentation is well-prepared, interactive and engaging. Students and teachers both loved listening to him and by the end of the day his books had disappeared from our library shelves.
The Gap State High School, May 2025Tristan was engaging, as always, and the students loved his session. They particularly loved hearing about his playlists and found his suggestions about the creative writing process extremely helpful.
Saint Stephen's College - March, 2025Pre-recorded Video - Tristan's video was funny, useful and very inspiring. One of our Year 7 students was so inspired, she went home after watching Tristan's video and picked up an abandoned story she had started writing when she was 10. Staff and student feedback has been very positive - we especially loved the writing tips. I'll be adding Tristan's talk to the budget every year.
Yarrabilba State Secondary College - July, 2024Tristan was incredible. He presented in multiple formats to multiple age groups and was well-received by all. Tristan is engaging, and interesting. I couldn't recommend him more highly.
Mount Alvernia College - July, 2024
Scar Town
Cop & Robber
Detention
The Fall
Two Wolves
Ginger Meggs
Nit Boy
My Life and Other Failed Experiments
My Life and other Exploding Chickens
My Life: And Other Massive Mistakes
My Life & Other Weaponised Muffins
My Life & Other Stuff That Went Wrong
My Life & Other Stuff I Made Up
Mac Slater Imaginator
Mac Slater Cool Hunter
Galactic Adventures
I love NY
New South Wales
Speaker type
- Author
- Educational consultant
Links
Featured Speakers
Stop Press
Choose Your Own Adventure!
To tie in with the 2025 Book Week theme, ‘Book an Adventure’, Dave Lowe has adapted his popular ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ workshop, as a ‘presentation’-style 45- / 60-minute session for large groups of students, from Years 3 to 8. In this fun, highly-interactive session, Dave will share insights into ideas-generation and plotting, and give each student a story template, as well as all the tips and tricks they’ll need to make their own short ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’-style book that they can take home and try out on friends and family.
New Releases See all books
Touring Speakers See all tour dates
| Speaker | Location | Tour dates | Book now |
|---|---|---|---|
Brisbane | 01 Aug - 09 Sep 2025 | ||
Brisbane | 08 Sep - 08 Sep 2025 | ||
Sunshine Coast | 10 Sep - 17 Sep 2025 | ||
Gold Coast | 20 Oct - 22 Oct 2025 | ||
Gold Coast/Brisbane | 10 Nov - 11 Nov 2025 |
What people are saying
“Pitched really well to the age of the cohort. Great information that tied in so well to our Unit of Inquiry on Sharing the Planet. The making of the terrarium allowed the children to understand the layers of the rainforest and of course they got to take them home.”
Sandie is the best! She's super efficient and friendly.
Irena is a wonderful woman. At all times she was co-operative and willing to contribute her time and talent for the service of others. Her attitude and presentation were always first class. I have no hesitation in highly recommending Irena as an Artist-in Residence
Tim was phenomenal! His sessions were well-pitched to his audience, who were all highly engaged for the entire hour. Tim left the students wanting more and we cannot keep his books on our shelves - the reservation list is LONG!
It was really really good and I liked going through the photos. She took a really good photo and we all didn't know it was a fake! I enjoyed that she had a lot of description about how she made her three books come together. She told us about the prehistoric times and the characters. It was fun. Jo gave us tips for our writing and it was nice to know that new and different stuff.
Josie was very well received for her generous and genuine talk about what it is to be a writer and how to get started. The students, teachers and parents from the Fascinate writing program really responded to Josie's talk
Nadia's presentation was very entertaining with lots of different variety for our young audience. She more than met our expectations.
Justin was prepared for the visit and well equipped for the presentations. He spoke with enthusiasm, charisma and ease and frequently used his books as examples. He told us about his life before he became a writer, how it is like being a writer and what he plans to write in the future. All students were engaged with his presentation and where all eager to ask him questions. Justin D’ath is a great advocate for literacy, whether it be getting students interested in books, or inspiring child [...]
I recently had the pleasure of working with Rory H. Mather, and I can’t recommend him highly enough. His insights and expertise into lyrical story writing and rhyme is amazing and the art of story and persistance is truly inspirational. Rory’s approach combines practicality with deep emotional intelligence, enabling students to unlock their potential and achieve their writing goals with a never give up approach. The strategies he offers are not only effective but also easy to implement, making a [...]
Leigh was incredibly well organised and extremely engaging for our entire school. He managed to run 3 sessions that were interactive and inspiring for all 900 of our students.
Paridhi visited our classroom last term to motivate the children's narrative writing. She demonstrated how she illustrates her story books, read one of her stories and completed some guided drawing with the students. The children were very engaged and interested in Paridhi presentation. They were wowed when she used her technology to show how her draft drawings could be turned into the finished coloured illustrations. The students also loved her story book, Maharaja’s Quest, and enjoyed findin [...]
Lucia was one of the absolutely superlative presenters at our literature carnival this year. As a group, they expanded the students munitions of creativity and were very well received by all staff. Their presentations were highly engaging as they were diverse. Students had a full immersion into the world of the writer, storyteller and illustrator. I personally wish to express my gratitude to their unbounding energy and galvanising a week of learning and fun into the minds of our students and tea [...]