Victor Kelleher
Victor Kelleher (born 1939) is an Australian author. Kelleher was born in London and moved to Africa with his parents, at the age of fifteen. He spent the next twenty years travelling and studying in Africa, before moving to New Zealand. Kelleher received a Masters from St Andrew's University and a Ph.D. in English Literature from The University of South Africa. He has taught in Africa, New Zealand and Australia. While in New Zealand, he began writing part-time, prompted by homesickness for Africa. He moved to Australia in 1976, with his South African wife, Alison, and  was associate professor at the University of New England, in Armidale, New South Wales, before moving to Sydney to write full-time. After receiving a grant from the Australia Council Literature Board, Kelleher spent six months of 1996 at the Kessing Writers' Studio in Paris. Many of the books he has written have been based on his childhood and his travels in Africa. Kelleher has won many awards for his books, such as the "Australian Children's Book Award" Billy the Baked Bean Kid