About the Author

David Francis grew up on his family's farm in Victoria, Australia. He studied arts and law in Melbourne. In 1985 he left home to represent Australia on an equestrian team competing in Europe and went on to ride on the United States show-jumping circuit based outside New York. In 1986, he moved to California to work for an American law firm and in 1996 began writing fiction. In 2001, his first novel, AGAPANTHUS TANGO, was first published by Harper Collins/Fourth Estate in the United Kingdom and then by Harper Collins in Australia. In 2002, he received the Australia Literature Fund Fellowship to the Keesing Studio in Paris and, during that year, the novel was published in translation by Random House/Goldmann in Germany, Rizzoli/Bompiani in Italy and Sirene in Holland. In 2004, AGAPANTHUS TANGO was released by Editions du Seuil in France and in 2005 was published as THE GREAT INLAND SEA by MacAdam/Cage in the U.S. In 2006, the film rights were optioned by Serena Films in France.

In 2008, his second novel, STRAY DOG WINTER was released in Australia by Allen & Unwin and the U.S. by MacAdam/Cage. The novel was named "Book of the Year" in The Advocate, "Australian Novel of the Year" in the Australian Literary Review, was a LAMBDA Literary Award finalist, received a Fellowship of Australian Writers National Literary award, and won the Audiophile as well as the American Library Association, Stonewall and Barbara Gittings awards.

David is based in Los Angeles where he works with the law firm of Norton Rose Fulbright but spends part of each year in Australia and also at the Cité International des Arts in Paris. He has taught creative writing at the University of California Los Angeles/Occidental College and in the Masters of Professional Writing program at University of Southern California. His short stories and articles have appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Weekly Times, The Elegant Variation, The Advocate, The Age, Wet Ink, Southern California Review, Best Australian Stories, Harvard Review, Griffith Review, Meanjin and The Rattling Wall. Film rights to STRAY DOG WINTER have been optioned in Australia by Magic Media/White Hot Productions and the film is proceeding towards production.

David has recently completed his third novel WEDDING BUSH ROAD. Excerpts from the novel have appeared in Best Australian Stories (2010 and 2012), Harvard Review and Meanjin.