2. What is your nickname?
I got called Charger by my soccer team. I’m not sure why.
3. What is your greatest fear?
It already happened and was worse than I could have imagined. The fear is 100 times worse now. It’s too scary to think or even write about so I’ll jump to the next question.
4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
Evolving. Heart with a tentative toe dipped towards humour.
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Evolving. Inquisitive. Dreamer. Tenacious. Over-thinker. The last one might not seem positive, but I think for picture book writers it’s okay. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.
6. What book character would you be, and why?
Winnie the Pooh. That bear is so funny and doesn’t even know it. He has loyal friends, loads of adventures and fully accepts his shortcomings. He knows ‘nothing is more important than a little something to eat’ and his complexion just improves with age.
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
1988. I was oblivious to anything going on outside our family home. With five siblings for company, my days existed of tree climbing, dress-ups, skip bin exploring, roller-skating, dreaming up adventures in the broken-down bus in Dad’s shed and trying to sneak peaches and cherries from the orchard next
door without getting caught. It was the best.
8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
You have coffee breath.
9. Who is your greatest influence?
Noni Hazelhurst, the queen of Play School. She had my dream job. But also, Alison Lester, partly because of memories of pouring over Clive Eats Alligators, but also because of her incredible work supporting literacy in remote communities.
10. What/who made you start writing?
17 years of kindergarten teaching. I have read thousands of books to preschool children, but bedtime stories with our own two kids are easily my favourite moments. I also got tired of sounding like a broken record saying ‘One day I’d love to write’… so I just started.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
Kerfuffle. Why? I think it’s pretty obvious. Audacity is a close second.
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It’s the longest in the series and I’ve read it six times. What’s a few more?
Olivia Coates is an early-childhood professional who is passionate about the role of the natural environment in education and care for young children. Since the beginning of her teaching career in 2005, Olivia has secured numerous garden grants for local kindergartens and schools, and worked closely with organisations that provide supported employment for people with a disability. The projects targeted better access, inclusion and connection. She adores visiting these gardens now and seeing children immersed in play amongst nature, growing and harvesting vegetables, feeding chickens and collecting eggs, and learning the names and traditional uses of plants. The sense of community that grows from these experiences – that’s the magic. It shows that investing a little bit of time really can have a lasting impact. Rosie’s Garden is Olivia’s second picture book, following her debut Shadow Wall (Ethicool Books, 2023). Olivia lives in Allestree, Australia, on a dairy farm with her husband, two children, two dogs, a cat, lots of chickens, a family of huntsmans, and two very naughty goats named Hansel and Gretel. For more information, see www.oliviacoatesauthor.com.
