Speakers

Steve Matthews was born in the UK in 1953, migrating to Australia in 1985. At the age of fifty-five, Steve sold his business interests to fulfil a lifetime’s ambition to write. Since then, his acclaimed children’s books have been published in Australia, UK, Canada and the USA. 

‘The Skinny Girl’ is Steve’s first adult novel. Although this is a work of fiction, it is based on interviews, research, published works and other materials. It deals with women's issues, domestic abuse, and adversity.  Like most people, Steve assumed that a victim of abuse was identified by a black eye or broken arm. While the frightening statistics about domestic violence and abuse regularly appear in the media, he learned that there are some statistics that are not recorded.

Steve is donating all of his income from this book, in perpetuity: 50% to the Homicide Victims’ Support Group (Aust) Inc. and 50% to various other organisations that help the victims and families of domestic abuse in many different ways.