Alan Attwood has worked as an abalone packer, dishwasher and mail sorter, but mainly as a journalist. He has written for publications ranging from The Sunday Times, London, to Time magazine and covered events as diverse as the first free elections in South Africa, soccer in Northern Greece, political intrigue in Morocco and four Olympic Games.

Between 1995-98 he was the New York-based correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers. From 2006--16 he was editor of The Big Issue magazine in Australia.

His previous novels include Sinking into Winter, shortlisted for The Australian/Vogel Literary Award in 1990, Breathing Underwater (1997) and Burke's Soldier, shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 2004.