Angela Savage

Angela went to Southeast Asia in 1992 on a six-month scholarship and ended up staying six years. Based in Vientiane, Hanoi and later Bangkok, she managed a HIV/AIDS prevention program for the Australian Red Cross that covered Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma and southern China. She returned home to Melbourne in 1998 to take time out of the workforce and nurture her dream of becoming a published author.

Angela’s short story ‘The Mole on the Temple’ won third prize at the Sisters in Crime Scarlet Stiletto Awards in 1998 and introduced Bangkok-based detective Jayne Keeney, the main character in her first full-length novel, Behind the Night Bazaar (Text, 2006), which was shortlisted for the 2007 Ned Kelly Awards Best First Book. The sequel, The Half-Child, was published by Text in September 2010.

In the mid-1980s, Angela worked as an au pair in France, before completing an Arts degree at the University of Melbourne with Combined Honours in Criminology and the History & Philosophy of Science. Angela has published numerous articles based on her travels and her work in sexual health and international development.

Angela lived in Canberra from 1999-2002. From 2000 to 2004, her work as Director of the Sexual Health and Family Planning Australia International Program took her to countries throughout the South Pacific and back to Southeast Asia.

Angela and her family lived in Cambodia in 2008 where she wrote The Half-Child and worked as a consultant on HIV and harm reduction.

Angela currently head up a small peak body of community development organisations in Melbourne. She lives with her long-time partner, fellow crime writer Andrew Nette, and their daughter.