Grieco-Tiso, Pina 1954–

PERSONAL: Born March 27, 1954, in Melbourne, Australia; daughter of Bert (a railway employee) and Ida (Santosuosso) Grieco; married Alfredo Tiso (a joiner), January 17, 1981; children: Ben, Jason, Tristan. Education: Monash University, B.A. and diploma in education, 1976; University of Melbourne, B.A. (Italian language, culture, and literature), 1979. Hobbies and other interests: Graffiti, reading, movies, music, tae kwon do, roller-blading, lead-light art, travel, Egyptology, working with youth groups, astrology, the occult, the brain.

ADDRESSES: Home—18 Daley St., Bentleigh, Victoria 3204, Australia. Office—Parkdale Secondary College, Warren Rd., Mordialloc, Victoria 3195, Australia; fax: 039-587-3142. E-mail—grieco@bigblue.net.au.

CAREER: Teacher of English, French, Italian, and Spanish at secondary schools and foreign language schools throughout Australia; Parkdale Secondary College, Mordialloc, Australia, teacher of English and French.

MEMBER: Australian Society of Authors, Fellowship of Australian Writers, Australian Literary Translators' Association, National Book Council of Australia.

AWARDS, HONORS: Regional prizes from Fellowship of Australian Writers, 1987, 1988, 1990, all for short stories, and 1989, for poetry; Coolum Prize, 1989 and 1990; Rockhampton Poetry Award, 1989.

WRITINGS:

FOR YOUNG ADULTS; NOVELS

Blitz: A Bomber's Nightmare, Random House (Milsons Point, Australia), 1991.

Time Out, Random House (Milsons Point, Australia), 1993.

Sticks and Stones, Random House (Milsons Point, Australia), 1998.

For Sale: One Family, Insight Publishing (Melbourne, Australia), 2006.

Murph's Mob, Insight Publishing (Melbourne, Australia), 2006.

OTHER

Author of a multilingual textbook for travelers and a bilingual (English and Italian) version of the "yellow pages." Work represented in anthologies, including Anthology of Australian Poetry, 1987. Contributor to periodicals, including Viewpoint, Writer's News, Australian Woman's Weekly, Summer, and New Decade.

SIDELIGHTS: Pina Grieco-Tiso once told CA: "Writing has been an enjoyable activity for me since primary school, where the well-meaning but strict, black-habited nuns scared me to death! My first stories were full of big, black aliens from outer space who came to kidnap earth children. For this brilliant and imaginative initiation into the world of writing, I remain deeply indebted to those nuns, some of whom I still see from time to time at reunions. In the following years my tastes in literature didn't progress too much from there—anything in the gothic horror genre was fine for me, and still is. I particularly enjoy it when the human psyche is explored, as in Anne Rice's vampire series.

"In my own writing, I too explore the psyche. Why do people do what they do? There has to be a reason, whether it is an innocent child playing hurtful, disturbing games in the playground or an older person suffering personality disorders that prohibit him from leading a 'normal' life. After all, what is normal, and who decides?

"Because of this, most of my writing is in the first person. I like to get into one person's head so that I can study how he, based on his knowledge of life, perceives the world around him, and perhaps I can understand human behavior better.

"This sort of writing also helps you understand yourself, and for this reason young people should be encouraged from an early age to write creatively and explore their own feelings. In this way they can develop their unique styles of writing. Argumentative writing can be learned; so can critical writing and even the narrative style. They all work to a formula. But creative writing can only be an original expression of one's feelings, and no rules apply. This makes it all the more exciting and adventurous—a sure winner for young people!"