Ned Stephenson was born in Sydney, then raised on a sheep farm in southern New South Wales, before returning to Sydney to study biology and earth sciences. Since then, he has worked in the agriculture and mining sectors in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and New South Wales. He holds post-graduate degrees in geology and business.

 

Ned turned his hand to writing fiction in 2019 and since then has published three books in the genres of science-fiction, historical fantasy, and contemporary fiction. With plans to have a fourth book out this year. Aside from his own novels, Ned’s stories have been published in the Newcastle Short Story Award anthology, the Grieve Project anthology, Alice Sinclair Memorial anthology, and most recently he won the people’s choice award in the 2023 Newcastle Herald short story competition.

 

His tales are inspired by a wide variety of topics. From marine biology to mineral exploration, and from medieval history to modern day stock markets. His short stories have Dahl-like twists in their endings while his science fiction has been compared to early Asimov. The Sutcliffe Alchemy series of novels draws from his time working in remote parts of the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

 

Ned lives in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales. When he isn’t writing, he’s usually shooing an ancient chicken off the vegetable garden, or repositioning the almost as antique cat from his keyboard.