Michael Gerard Bauer was born and lives in Brisbane Australia. In 2000 he resigned from his full-time position as an English/Economics teacher to pursue his dream of becoming a writer.
In 2004 his first YA novel The Running Man was published to great acclaim. It subsequently won the 2005 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year for Older Readers and was short-listed for the NSW, Victoria and South Australian State Premiers’ Literary awards.
In 2008 the German translation of The Running Man was short-listed for the German Youth Literature Prize and won the German Catholic Children’s and Young People’s Book Prize. In 2014 it was short-listed for the Prix Farniente in Belgium. In 2009 the Italian translation of The Running Man was a finalists for the “Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cento” Prize.
In 2007 his second novel, a ‘laugh out loud’ comedy entitled Don’t Call Me Ishmael! was short-listed in both the CBCA awards and the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and won the 2007 Children’s Peace Literature Award and the 2008 South Australian Festival Award for Children’s Literature. It was also included in the 2007 White Ravens selection for Outstanding International Books for children and young adults. Its sequel Ishmael and the Return of the Dugongs was a 2008 CBCA Notable book. The final book in the trilogy Ishmael and the Hoops of Steel and was released in July 2011. It was shortlisted for the 2012 CBCA Book of the Year for Older Readers.
Michael’s other books include, Dinosaur Knights a 2010 CBCA Notable Book described as ‘an original and adrenalin-pumping adventure’, You Turkeys! an illustrated chapter book, part of the Scholastic Mates series for early readers, and Just a Dog which was named Honour Book in the 2011 CBCA awards in the Younger Readers category and won the 2011 Queensland Premier’s award for best Children’s Book.
Recently Michael has written a series of three humorous books for younger readers: Eric Vale Epic Fail; (BILBY Award Winner 2014; KOALA Honour Book 2014) Eric Vale Super Male; (CBCA Notable Book 2014) and Eric Vale Off the Rails (Selected as one of the 2013 GET READING 50 Books You Can’t Put Down). The books are fully illustrated by Michael’s son Joe who as well as being a talented artist is an amazing young film-maker and along with his wife Rita Artmann make up Artspear Entertainment. Joe made the trailer for Eric Vale Epic Fail.
The first of spin-off series from the Eric Vale books Secret Agent Derek ‘Danger’ Dale: The Case of Animals Behaving Really REALLY Badly came out in July 2014. You can see Joe Bauer’s trailer here. Two other Derek Dale action adventures folowed: The Case of the Really REALLY Scary Things and The Case of the Really REALLY Magnetic Magnet.
In May 2016 the YA comedy The Pain, My Mother, Sir Tiffy, Cyber Boy and Me was released. It was short-listed for the 2017 WAYRBA awards. Michael’s first picture book Rodney Loses It! illustrated by Chrissie Krebs was published in September 2017 and won the 2018 CBCA Book of the Year Award in the early Childhood category as well as the Speech Pathology of Australia Book of the Year in the 3-5 year category. The sequel Rodney Forgets It! was released in 2022.
Michael’s most recent publication is a YA novel entitled The Things That Will Not Stand. In 2019 it received the Prime Minister’s Award for Young Adult literature and was included in the 2019 WHITE RAVENS LIST – an annual selection of children’s and youth literature from around the world. The German language version Dinge, die so nicht bleiben können was released in 2021 to enthusiastic reviews and the German audio version was awarded the Children’s and Youth Audiobook of the Year on the hr2 audiobook list.
These days Michael is a full-time writer. His books are currently sold in over 42 countries including the USA and UK and have been translated into 12 languages. They are widely set as school texts and Michael is in high demand for talks and workshops at schools and Festivals around Australia.
He has also enjoyed three very successful visits to Indonesia as a Writer in Residence at the Jakarta International School (2007 and 2008) and the British International School (2008). As well he has visited the American community School in Abu Dhabi (2012) and spent three weeks at schools in Southern China (2006. See Blogs 87 and 88). In 2010 Michael was one of the guest authors at the White Ravens International Children’s and Youth Literature Festival in Munich Germany and in 2012 he was invited to the Edinburgh Writers festival.
In 2022 Michael was awarded The Dame Annabelle Rankin Award for Distinguished Services to Children’s Literature by the Queensland Branch of the Children’s Book Council of Australia.
Michael can be found on:
FACEBOOK at Michael Gerard Bauer Author and
Don’t Call Me Ishmael – Michael Gerard Bauer
INSTAGRAM at mgbauerpics
TWITTER at m_g_bauer
Michael Gerard Bauer Author 
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Dear Mr Bauer,
We would love to read ‘Rodney Loses it Again’. Can you please write it? We would like to know what happens when Rodney loses his glasses. We would read it at our preschool. It’s called Kingsford Smith Preschool and we live in Canberra. We think Rodney is hilarious.
Thanks for reading our letter,
From The Preschool Victory class.
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I somehow missed this message so this is a very very very late reply! So glad you enjoyed Rodney Loses It. A second Rodney is coming out in 2022. It’s called Rodney Forgets It. I hope you like it and I’m so sorry for missing the original message. Cheers Michael.
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Hi Michael, I am doing an assignment on your wonderful book, Don’t Call Me Ishmael!. I was wondering what inspired you to write this book and did you experience bullying yourself.
Kind Regard Charlotte.
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Hi Charlotte. If you click on the Don’t Call Me Ishmael link on this web page and scroll down to the link to BLOG 8: Thanks a lot Herman, you can read about the inspiration for the book. Fortunately for me I wasn’t bullied but I have witnessed bullying and its damaging effects as a student and as a teacher. Good luck with your assignment.
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Thank You! 😀
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Dear Michael Gerard Bauer
Hi, our names are Caitlin, Renee, Charlotte, and Katelyn and we are doing an English assignment on your book ‘Don’t Call Me Ishmael!’ and we were wondering if you could answer a couple of questions for our English Assignment. Our questions are
1. Who influenced you to write the book?
2. Why did you write the book?
3. What is the connection between you and the novel?
4. Have you always been a writer?
5. Why do you write?
Yours sincerely Catlin, Renee, Charlotte, and Katelyn.
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Hey Michael, just wanted to know how you came to the idea of “The knitting needle Ninja” for the rich and rare book. I have been doing an essay for it and it would really help if you told me a little back story about how it was created.
Thanks a lot!
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Hi Thomas. The story of The Knitting Needle Ninja is based on a real childhood memory involving me and my older brother Robert. I guess the story is 75% true. I’ve changed and exaggerated some bits. I used to tell the story a lot when I did writing workshops and ask students to predict what was going to happen at different points in the story. They would come up with lots of different variations and endings. I’ve used some of the those in the story when the narrator comments on what could have, or might, happen. The ending isn’t what really happened. If my memory is correct, after my apology, my brother said to me, “I will probably lose my leg because of YOU.” I had a nightmare that night about my brother’s leg falling off. I guess he got his revenge.
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Didn’t know it was a true story, this will help me a lot, thanks for reply!
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Hi Michael,
I am currently doing a study and analysis for “The Running Man” for my year 9 assignment. I was just writing to ask what was your inspiration for writing this book? How long did this book take to write? and What were some of the difficulties and/or obstacles that you faced in writing this book?
Thank you so much for writing such an amazing book and I aspire to be as great a writer as you when I’m older.
– Penny
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Hi Penny. Once I made the decision to start writing, The Running Man took me about two and a half years to complete. But I’d been thinking about it quite a while before I typed the first word. It took so long because it was my first book and I was writing it in between teaching contracts. As for your other questions about inspiration and challenges, I think you’ll find most of the answers and more in this blog on my page: https://michaelgerardbauer.com/2013/10/10/blog-57-in-which-i-reveal-the-first-stumbling-steps-of-the-running-man/ Good luck with the analysis and also with your own writing. Cheers Michael
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Hi Michael, I’ve read ‘Don’t call me Ishmael’ and “The pain, my mother, sir tiffy, cyber boy and me.” and I found that the novels used similar language techniques to create the protagonists. I was wondering what you described your writing style as and if you intentionally made the characters similar?
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Hey Prue. Not sure how I would describe my writing style. I’ll let other people do that. I didn’t intentional try to make Ishmael and Maggie similar. I guess the first person narration and the fact that they both see themselves – at least at the start – as victims of a world and circumstances over which they have little control makes them a little the same. But I do think that Maggie is a much more confident and out-spoken character than Ishmael. I think Maggie would like Ishmael but he might find her a little bit intimidating, at least until he got to know her. Thanks for reading the books – even if you had to do so for school! Hope you enjoyed them. Cheers Michael.
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Hi Michael, I’m pleased to say I am reviewing your picture book Rodney Loses It for a CBCA NT book review event. I’m so glad I picked this one out of the pile, my children and I are enjoying the book so much. The missing yo-yo was a bit of a head scratcher, we have looked over each page with a fine tooth comb. I’m relieved to see on your website that the yo-yo is not in the book. I’m not sure if I’ll pass on that knowledge to my kids yet, it might be fun to see them keep looking for the yo-yo each night. All the best with the CBCA Book of the Year.
Kind regards
Stacey
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Hi Stacey. Thanks so much for writing. It’s lovely to hear that you and your children are enjoying Rodney. Say Hi to them from me. Word has it that the missing yo-yo might make an appearance in future reprints. In the meantime, maybe the message is, that sometimes some things really do go missing and you never find them! Cheers Michael
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who is your favourite people to work with
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what year did u become a teacher
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1978.
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Hi Michael, I bought your book “Nennt mich nicht Ismael” in Germany in February, looking for something age appropriate for my bingual German-Aussie son to read. The bookshop had it prominently displayed alongside ‘Wonder’and ‘Percy Jackson’, and the sales lady assured me that middle school boys love this book! I had no idea you were actually Australian till now when I opened it up and saw “Aus dem Englischen” written inside. Congratulations on your success in the German market. Very impressive!
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Thanks so much Gen. I hope your son enjoys Ishmael. My German publishers Carl Hanser have been wonderful to me. They have published ten of my books with the eleventh on the way. Germany has been by far my most successful overseas market. I’ve visited twice – once for a book prize in Mainz and once as a guest of the White Ravens Festival in Munich – and I’d love to return. Cheers Michael
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Hi Michael,
I am doing a school project on you and I would really like to know what your favourite to eat is and do you have any other hobbies
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Hi Will. Just sent an email reply but in case you don’t get it, one of my favourite things to eat ever since I was a kid was Lamb Chops and my main hobby is playing guitar badly and singing even worse. Good luck with the project! Cheers Michael
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Hi Michael my name is Maija and I really like the don’t call me Ishmael books and I recently finished Ishmael and the hoops of steel, and I was wondering if you where going to write another one? And if so when where you hopping on releasing it?
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Hi Maija. Thanks for writing. Great to hear that you enjoyed the Ishmael books and that you made it through to the end. I have a special place in my heart for anyone who completes the journey with Ishmael and his friends. I really enjoyed writing the series but I don’t think there will be any more. The story was about their school life together so it ends on Graduation Day in Year 12 I’m afraid. In a couple of weeks here where I live in Brisbane there is going to be a performance of Don’t Call Me Ishmael: The Musical so I’m really looking forward to that. Thanks again for writing Maija. Sorry there’s no new Ishmael’s on the horizon. Maybe you could try my book The Pain … etc … and Me. It’s a bit like Ishmael in style but has a teenage girl as the narrator. Cheers Michael
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Hi Maija. Somehow I missed your question so I’m very sorry for this very late reply. Sadly there won’t be a fourth Ishmael book because I think their story for me ends when they leave school and head out into the world. I’m so glad you enjoyed reading the series. I have a special place in my heart for any reader like yourself who has followed Ishmael and his friends’ journey from beginning to end. Cheers Michael
PS My book The Pain, My Mother, Sir Tiffy, Cyber Boy and Me is similar in style to the Ishmael books but with a teenage girl as the narrator. You might like that.
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Hi Micheal. What inspired you to write the running man?
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Hi MGB, I’m Hannah from Germany and I read ‘Don’t call me Ishmael’ at school in my German lessons. Now we have to write a reading diary about the book. I really love it and I’d like to know, what inspired you to write the story. Did you probably know someone who was bullied?
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Hi Hannah. Great to hear that you enjoyed Ishmael. The bullying wasn’t based on any personal experience of mine but as I was a teacher for quite a while it was certainly an issue I was familiar with. The idea of bullying really just developed in the novel when I wondered why Ishmael hated his name. My answer was that maybe someone was making fun of it. That someone became the character of Barry Bagsley. You can read more about the development of the story in blog 8 on my page here: https://michaelgerardbauer.com/2011/05/22/blog-8-in-which-i-say-thanks-a-lot-herman/ Cheers.
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Hi MGB I was wonder what device did you use for your writing?
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Hi. Do you mean what do I write with? If so, I do everything on computer – which at present is a laptop. I don’t use a special writing program, just Word. Cheers.
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Hi MGB did you have anything important happen to you between the years of 1960 and 2000
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Yes. Most of my life.
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Hi MGB I was just wondering whetheryou have or had a wife And if you do do you have a son
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That would be Yes and Yes. In fact if you read the ABOUT page above it mentions my son and there’s even a photo of us together.
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Hi MGB i have a dew questions for you for an assignment
1who were your parents
2 have you had any other accomplishments
And3 what were your hobbies when you were younger
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Hi Harry. My parents names were Elsie and Denis. Most of my accomplishments have been with writing. Not sure I had a proper hobby when I was younger although I did collect stamps for a while. My interests included, painting and drawing, playing guitar, writing songs, watching TV/films and sport – mainly football and cricket.
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Thank you
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Who inspired you to write books????
How was your childhood???
What kind of books did he write????
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Hi Tavae. Lots of writers inspired me but the one who had the biggest influence at the time I started was the Australian writer Markus Zusak and his books Fighting Rueben Wolf, Underdogs, The Messenger and most recently The Book Thief. My childhood was a very happy one. Cheers.
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Can i ask you one more question
Why did you choose to become a writer?
please dont make it short pls
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Tavae I became an author because I loved words and stories. The first things I tried writing when I was a teenager were songs. I became an English teacher because of my love of reading and stories and eventually I wanted to see if I could write some stories of my own and get them published. I was inspired by many writers but the main one whose books inspired me to start writing my first novel The Running Man was the Australian author Markus Zusak.
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Hi Michael, I’ve read ‘Just a dog’ twice now and all I can say is that I absolutely love it. That book made me cry and I never cry reading books no matter how sad they are and I’ve also never had a book that has made me this emotional, so great job. I love your book so much that I’m doing it for a school project and I’m sure that my classmates will want to read the book.
Cheers
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Hi Aarana
Thank you so much for those lovely comments. It’s great to hear that you enjoyed Just a Dog. I loved writing that book. Some of the stories about Mr Moe and Corey were made up and some were based on real things that happened to me and the two dogs I grew up with. The fishing hook story and the story about the dad pulling up the garage floor boards were both based on real things that happened.
All the best with your school project. Say Hi to your classmates and your teacher from me.
Cheers Michael.
ps I shed a few tears writing some of Moe’s stories.
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Thanks, I have one question for my project. What was it like in your childhood and what did you want to be when you were a child.
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I had a very happy childhood. I grew up in the Brisbane suburb of Ashgrove (the setting of my book The Running Man) along with my older brother and two older sisters. When I was a child the first thing I wanted to be was a Samurai warrior because my hero then (and now!) was the star of a popular action/adventure TV show called The Samurai. It was set in medieval Japan and the Samurai’s name in it was Shintaro. So I wanted to be a Samurai just like Shintaro. Or a ninja!
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Don’t call me ishmael is very funny! Please please please make more new books!
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Thanks Jeff, glad you enjoyed it. There are two sequels to DCM Ishmael which take the characters up to the last day of yr 12 but I don’t think there will be any more. I have a new teenage novel (with a female narrator this time) coming out in May 2016.
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Have just used The Running Man (all time Favourite) with my Year 11s. You would be impressed with the depth they were able to come up with. Each and every one of them loved the book which is unusual. I love it and I guess I am able to enthuse them as well. Am just starting Just a Dog and am looking forward to another ‘can’t put it down’ book.
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Hi Jennifer
Thank you so much for taking the time to send that feedback. I have visited a lot of schools over recent years where my books have been used and I know only too well how much of a difference an enthusiastic and passionate teacher makes to the success of a set text. As an ex-English teacher myself it’s wonderful to hear that the book went went with your class. Please say Hi to them all from me.
Just a Dog has had some lovely reviews but it is a book that divides some people over whether they think the content is suitable for certain age groups. I saw a review from one lady in America who said the book was going ‘straight in the fire’! Although she did admit that her son didn’t share her ‘concerns’ with the book.
Thanks again for writing and I hope you can find a place for Mr Moe, and his broken family, in your heart.
Cheers
Michael
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how do you get your ideas i need it for a school project please
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Hi Josh
Ideas can come from anywhere. In Eric Vale, some of the stories are just made up completely and some are based on things that have happened to me or that I’ve read or seen or heard about. Sometimes they start off as real life events but then become changed and exaggerated to make them funnier.
Cheers
Michael
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I just read Just a dog and it was a great story.I would love to have a dog like that.
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Thanks Jellico. I’d like a dog like Moe too!
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i am reading just a dog am am up to chapter 15 mr mosely’s mysteries and I love it so far it is such a great book and nearly cried thankyou for the great book
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Thank you so much Charlotte. I’m really glad that you’re enjoying Just a Dog. I know there are some sad things in the story but I hope that reading it will be a positive experience overall for you. Thank you for taking the time to write. I really appreciate it. Cheers Michael.
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My class has read 2 of your books so far they are loving it thanks.
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Thanks Sophie. That’s great to hear. What year level do you have and what have they read?
Please say hello to them all for me.
Cheers
Michael
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Ah, so you are aided by a competent other whilst I merely have a husband. Always a little hesitant to use those two ‘m’ words in the same sentence; they rarely work well together. (I mean Male and Multi task not Michael). Will miss tomorrow night’s Book Links meeting (again) unfortunately but Denise, Beth and Jenny all well aware of my affinity for the odd glass of red so please indulge on my behalf. You may wish to remind them. For me to do so repeately would be reckless.
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Hi Michael Only met you once at Govt House but your words gather round me like time honoured friends. Fantastic site. But I didn’t pay much attention to the look. Love your words…you obviously don’t spend much time ironing. Dimity
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Hi Dimity. Thanks so much for dropping by and for those generous words. I hope that comment about ironing wasn’t in response to the state of my clothes!
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Never! Just an observation that perhaps you are one of the clever ones who spends less time on domestic ‘unnecessities’ and more on word weaving. Unless of course you can multi task!
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Please don’t mention the idea of me multi-tasking to my wife. I hate it when she laughs hysterically.
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I finished Just a Dog a couple of days ago and it has lingered like a warm hug. I had been warned to have tissues ready, but I managed without. I thought the whole story was tenderly handled and it brought me closer to my childhood memories of the dog I loved. Thanks for that, Michael.
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Thanks for that lovely feedback Angela. So glad you liked it.
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This is a blog from someone with too much time on his hands. Much too professional looking for my tastes…
Well done MGB.
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Pat it’s all downhill from here on in. Or maybe I should quit while I’m ahead?
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MGB…so impressed with your blog!!! Did you REALLY make it yourself??? I thought ‘The Running Man’ would always be my MGB favourite…but after reading ‘Just a Dog’ twice now, I think it might have won…
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All my own work! I surprised myself a little.
Thanks so much Megan. When I was first asked who I thought the book was for I said ‘I’m not sure. Maybe just me.’ So it’s really lovely to hear when someone else likes it too.
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hi michael can you please reply to this please its for my homework and my homework is to write about your fav author and your my favourite author so can you please answer this question. plus i love your all your book but my favourite book is ” just a dog” i enjoyed reading and i love it.
1. what they are well-known for/ very good at?
2. where they are from/ grew up?
3.how they become so good at what they do?
4. what they have to teach you and the class?
So i hope you answer them thanks but when i go on your website its about you literately nothing it says what you are good at and other stuff so yeah!!!
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Hi nywrian
Thank you for those kind words and I’m glad you liked Just a Dog but I really think you could find something to say about the first three questions just by reading the ABOUT link on my blog plus some of the interviews that are linked to on the RESOURCES page. Question 2 for example is answered in the VERY FIRST LINE of the ABOUT section. Sorry but I think your homework is for you to do. Might be the ex-teacher in me coming out (hey that might have something to do with Ques 3!) Question 4 is definitely one that you are supposed to answer yourself by thinking about Just a Dog and what you might get from reading it. Sorry that’s the best I can do. Cheers.
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