Jared Thomas is a museum curator, playwright, author and proud Nukunu man of the Flinders Ranges. After seeing the play Funerals and Circuses (written by Aboriginal playwright Roger Bennett) at a school excursion, Jared was inspired to pursue a career in writing and humanities. Once he had graduated from university and worked a few odd jobs, Jared became the editor of a publication at the Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute. It was here and in his work at Adelaide University that his career as a writer began.
After having several of the plays, poems and short stories he wrote produced and published, Jared began working on his first novel, Sweet Guy. The story of a young man starting university and breaking out on his own was released to wide acclaim, being shortlisted in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards in and the Festival Awards for Literature in 2006.
Since then, Jared has released more young adult novels to wide critical success, including Game Day, which he co-wrote with NBA star Patty Mills, Songs that Sound Like Blood, Calypso Summer, (for which Jared was awarded the Kuril Dhagun Indigenous Writing Fellowship) and his latest novel, My Spare Heart, which has been shortlisted for the Young Adult Book Award in the Queensland Literary Awards.