TIM WINTON, the author of 22 books, is the pre-eminent Australian novelist of his generation. Published in more than 22 languages, his novels have garnered major national and international awards. Twice short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, Winton is the only writer to have won the Miles Franklin Award four times. Many of his works have been adapted for the stage. Adaptations of his novels include That Eye, The Sky (Justin Monjo and Richard Roxburgh), Cloudstreet (Nick Enright and Justin Monjo) and The Turning (Bill McCluskey). Of his works for young readers, Lockie Leonard, Human Torpedo, Lockie Leonard, Scumbuster and The Bugalugs Bum Thief have been adapted for theatre and The Bugalugs Bum Thief, Blueback and The Deep have enjoyed long lives as adaptations for puppetry. Rising Water, his first work written for the stage, was produced by Black Swan State Theatre Company in 2011, followed by Signs of Life in 2012. Since 1992 Winton has been patron of the Tim Winton Award for Young Writers, sponsored by the City of Subiaco, Western Australia. Active in the environmental movement in Australia, he was awarded the Centenary Medal for service to literature and the community. He is the Patron of the Australian Marine Conservation Society and the Stop the Toad Foundation. PAIGE GIBBS was a founding member of the Shrunken Heads Theatre Collective. Her plays include Groundhog Day, Wallpaper Man (produced on ABC radio), and Buying Esme. Her stage adaptation of Tim Winton's novel Lockie Leonard, Human Torpedo was first produced by the WA Youth Theatre Company and was subsequently re-written for the Perth Theatre Company for the 1995 Festival of Perth. Gibbs has also adapted Tim Winton's Cloudstreet for ABC Radio National.