Geoffrey McSkimming facts for kids

Geoffrey McSkimming is an Australian writer who creates exciting books for children and young adults. He is famous for his adventure stories like the Cairo Jim chronicles and the Jocelyn Osgood jaunts. He also writes mystery novels in the Phyllis Wong series and has published several books of poetry.

Geoffrey McSkimming was born in Sydney, Australia, on January 1, 1962. To make his Cairo Jim stories feel real, he traveled to many amazing places. These include Egypt, Peru, Tanzania (which has Zanzibar), Greece, Mexico, Turkey, Italy, and Singapore. He often visits schools and libraries to talk about his books. Sometimes, he even appears with his wife, Sue-Anne Webster, who is a magician! They work together to promote the Phyllis Wong mystery series.

Geoffrey McSkimming has written more than seventy short stories for magazines. He has also contributed poems to different collections. He even narrated his Cairo Jim books as audiobooks, so you can listen to the adventures! His poetry book, Ogre in a Toga and Other Perverse Verses, was recognized in the Audie Awards in the US in 2008. From 2000 to 2013, he created special character tours for the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney. In 2006, he went on a book tour in the UK to share his Cairo Jim series with readers there.

His 25th novel, Phyllis Wong and the Crumpled Stranger, was published in 2020. He is currently working on the eighth book in the Phyllis Wong Time Detective mystery series. All the Cairo Jim books are now available as e-books and new print editions. A brand new Cairo Jim novel, Cairo Jim and the Portal of Peristophanes -- The Return of Cairo Jim, was released in October 2021. Geoffrey McSkimming loves collecting and reading old detective and mystery books, especially those by Fergus Hume.

Books by Geoffrey McSkimming

Geoffrey McSkimming has written many books over the years. Here are some of his popular titles:

Cairo Jim Adventures

• Cairo Jim and the Portal of Peristophanes – The Return of Cairo Jim (2021)
• Cairo Jim and the Astragals of Angkor (2007)
• Cairo Jim at the Crossroads of Orpheus (2006)
• Cairo Jim and the Sumptuous Stash of Silenus (2005)
• Cairo Jim and Jocelyn Osgood in Bedlam from Bollywood (2004)
• Cairo Jim and the Rorting of Rameses' Regalia (2003)
• Cairo Jim and the Chaos from Crete (2002)
• Cairo Jim and the Tyrannical Bauble of Tiberius (2001)
• Cairo Jim and the Lagoon of Tidal Magnificence (2000)
• Cairo Jim Amidst the Petticoats of Artemis (2000)
• Cairo Jim and the Secret Sepulchre of the Sphinx (1999)
• Cairo Jim and the Quest for the Quetzal Queen (1997)
• Cairo Jim's Bumper Book of Flabbergasting Fragments (1996)
• Cairo Jim and the Alabastron of Forgotten Gods (1996)
• Cairo Jim and the Sunken Sarcophagus of Sekheret (1994)
• Cairo Jim on the Trail to ChaCha Muchos (1992)
• Cairo Jim & Doris in Search of Martenarten (1991)

Phyllis Wong Mysteries

• Phyllis Wong and the Crumpled Stranger (2020)
• Phyllis Wong and the Vanishing Emeralds (2018)
• Phyllis Wong and the Girl who Danced with Lightning (2017)
• Phyllis Wong and the Pockets of the Shadows (2016)
• Phyllis Wong and the Waking of the Wizard (2015)
• Phyllis Wong and the Return of the Conjuror (2014)
• Phyllis Wong and the Secrets of Mr. Okyto (2012)

Jocelyn Osgood Jaunts

• Jocelyn Osgood: Ascent into Asgard (1998)
• Jocelyn Osgood: Xylophones above Zarundi (1995)
• Jocelyn Osgood: After the Puce Empress (1993)

Poetry and Other Works

• Ogre in a Toga and More Perverse Verse (2023)
• The Startling Tale of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (2016)
• Ogre in a Toga and Other Perverse Verses (2008)

His Cairo Jim and Jocelyn Osgood books have been published in many languages around the world. You can find them in Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, Korea, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, Hungary, and New Zealand.

How the Stories Began

When Geoffrey McSkimming was a boy, he found an old movie projector and a dusty film in his grandmother's attic. He watched the film and was amazed by the flickering image of a man wearing a cool pith helmet and special desert sunglasses. This man had a smart macaw (a type of parrot) and a clever camel. Geoffrey was fascinated by their adventures in black-and-white scenes from Egypt, Peru, Greece, Mexico, Sumatra, Turkey, Italy, and other exciting places.

Years later, he discovered who the man, macaw, and camel were. Since then, he has spent a lot of time following their old paths and talking to people who knew them. He has slowly put together the true stories of Cairo Jim, which became the super popular Cairo Jim chronicles that we can read today!