About

Simon Cleary is the author of three novels: The War Artist (2019), Closer to Stone (2012) and The Comfort of Figs (2008).

Simon grew up in Toowoomba before studying literature and law at the University of Queensland.

His first novel, The Comfort of Figs, set in his adopted home of Brisbane, explores the changes to landscape that come with the creation of cities. After graduating from university he spent six months hitch-hiking across the Sahara into West Africa. His experiences in Algeria when civil war broke out there informed his second novel, Closer to Stone, which deals with the effects of extreme beliefs.

His third novel, The War Artist – a love story – interrogates the human cost of war and violence.

Photo: Pat Hamilton