Trudi Canavan is an Australian author born in 1969 in Melbourne. She studied to become a professional artist, completing an Advanced Certificate in Promotional Display before working as a graphic designer.
In 1995, Canavan began working for Aurealis, a science fiction magazine. Around the same time, she took writing courses and began writing fiction. Though her work was rejected to start with, she went on to win the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story in 1999. The same year, she earned a writers’ residency.
Her first novel, The Magicians’ Guild, was published in 2001. The fantasy novel also launched Canavan’s The Black Magician Trilogy. It was followed by The Novice, in 2002, and The High Lord, in 2003. These two novels earned her award nominations, and all three books were Australian science fiction best sellers.
Canavan followed this success with another trilogy, Age of the Five. The first book of the series, The Priestess in White, was published in 2005, with the other two novels being published the following year.
In 2009, Canavan published The Magician’s Apprentice, a prequel to The Black Magician Trilogy. She has also written a sequel to the trilogy, The Traitor Spy Trilogy. The first book, The Ambassador’s Mission, was published in 2010, with the second, The Rogue, following a year later. The final book, The Traitor Queen, is due for publication in 2012.
Canavan has said she is working on another trilogy, which she has titled Millennium’s Rule. It is set to be published between 2014 and 2016.
