Alison Ripley Cubitt

Alison Ripley Cubitt started her writing career at age nine by winning first prize in a writing competition with a pony book. Some years later, she left New Zealand with the ability to make a white sauce without a recipe, carry three plates at once, and ride a horse (though not at the same time). Dreaming of becoming a copywriter, she landed a job as the receptionist in an advertising agency in Sydney that made the TV series Mad Men’s work culture look tame. But the lure of London proved too hard to resist, and she left Australia. Landing in London at the right time, she got her break in television production and lasted 15 years, working on Channel 4’s anarchic The Big Breakfast and at Walt Disney and the BBC. For the past four years, she has divided her time between Melbourne, Australia and Jane Austen country, England. An accomplished author of non-fiction works, including two travel guides and three memoirs, her literary achievements encompass works of fiction, from screenplays to short stories and thrillers.