Emily Rodda

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-08-21

Emily Rodda is the pen name of Jennifer Rowe, born April 2, 1948, in Sydney, Australia, and raised on Sydney's North Shore. Her father, Jim Oswin, was founding general manager of television station ATN7 and produced classic Australian shows. She attended Abbotsleigh School for Girls and earned a Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of Sydney in 1973. Rowe began her publishing career as assistant editor at Paul Hamlyn, then spent fourteen years at Angus and Robertson Publishers, rising from editor to publisher. She later edited Australian Women's Weekly from 1984 to 1992 while writing fiction part-time, becoming a full-time writer in 1994. Under her own name she writes adult crime fiction featuring detectives Verity Birdwood and Tessa Vance. As Emily Rodda, she has become one of Australia's most celebrated children's fantasy authors, creating the Deltora Quest series, which has sold more than eighteen million copies worldwide, along with Rowan of Rin, Fairy Realm, and The Three Doors. She has won the Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year award six times, received the Dromkeen Medal, and was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2019. She lives in the Blue Mountains with her family.