Lian Hearn

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-08-21

Lian Hearn is the pseudonym of Gillian Rubinstein, born Gillian Margaret Hanson on August 29, 1942, in Potten End, Hertfordshire, England. She split her childhood between England and Nigeria before moving to Australia in 1973. An English-born children's author and playwright, she has written more than thirty books and eight plays, and achieved early success under her own name with Space Demons (1986), which introduced her recurring themes of growing up and fantastical worlds, followed by acclaimed titles such as At Ardilla, Foxspell, and Galax-Arena. Beginning in 2001 she published the bestselling Tales of the Otori trilogy under the pen name Lian Hearn, comprising Across the Nightingale Floor, Grass for His Pillow, and Brilliance of the Moon, set in a fictional island nation resembling feudal Japan; she later expanded the world with the Tale of Shikanoko series. She received the Children's Peace Literature Award in 1987 and the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 2004. She is married to Phillip, has three children, and lives in Mullumbimby, New South Wales, Australia.

Universe(s)

Books

• Across the Nightingale Floor (2002) · Tales of the Otori Core Canon
• Grass for His Pillow (2003) · Tales of the Otori Core Canon
• Brilliance of the Moon (2004) · Tales of the Otori Core Canon
• The Harsh Cry of the Heron (2006) · Tales of the Otori Core Canon
• Heaven's Net Is Wide (2007) · Tales of the Otori Core Canon

Aggregate across all universes

• Total Core Canon books across all universes: 5 books
• Award recognitions across all universes: 1 (1 won)

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