Tristan Bancks facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tristan Bancks
Tristan Bancks at the Melbourne Writers Festival 2011
Born	(1974-12-21) 21 December 1974 (age 50) Sydney, Australia
Occupation	Writer, Actor
Citizenship	Australian
Genre	Children's literature
Notable awards	prime ministers literary awards, Queensland literary awards:
Partner	Amber Melody
Relatives	Jimmy Bancks (great uncle)

Tristan Bancks (born 21 December 1974) is an Australian author who writes exciting books for kids and teenagers. He also has a background in filmmaking and acting. You might know him from his acting role as Tug O'Neale on the popular TV show Home and Away, which he was on between 1992 and 1994.

Tristan Bancks's Journey

Tristan Bancks started his career by training at Sydney's Q Theatre. Soon after, he got a regular role on the TV show Home and Away. He played the character of Tug O'Neale.

From Acting to Writing

After leaving Home and Away, Tristan moved to London. He spent four years there, working in television. He wrote, researched, and presented shows for big TV networks like ITV, BBC, and Channel Four. Some of the shows he presented included Don't Try This at Home and It's A Mystery.

In 1999, Tristan returned to Australia. He appeared in a few short films and TV shows. These included Dust, Beneath Clouds, and Remote Area Nurse.

Making Short Films

Tristan also started making his own short films. He wrote and directed several of them. Some of his films were based on award-winning stories by other authors. His film Soar was shown at big film festivals around the world. These included the London Film Festival and the Melbourne International Film Festival.

One of his special short films is called Every Day at School. This film was made to inspire primary school classes. It encourages them to spend the first five minutes of each day making a small positive change in the world.

Becoming a Bestselling Author

For many years now, Tristan Bancks has been writing books full-time. He has written many popular books for young readers. In 2009, he released Mac Slater Coolhunter 2: I Heart NY. This book was a follow-up to his earlier book, The Rules of Cool. He also wrote the Nitboy books, Bug Out and Lift Off, in the same year.

Tristan also co-wrote a Young Adult novel called It's Yr Life. He wrote this book with Tempany Deckert, who was also an actress on Home and Away. He has also written eight short novels in the Kids Inc. series. These books are about kids who start their own businesses.

Tristan has won several awards for his work. In 2004, he won an award at the Flickerfest International Short Film Festival for directing Soar. His book Detention was shortlisted for the Children's Book Award. This was part of the Queensland Literary Awards. In 2023, his book Cop & Robber was shortlisted for the Young Adult Indie Award. He also won the Young Australian Best Book Award for Fiction for Years 7–9 for his book Scar Town.

Tristan's Family Life

Tristan Bancks has a famous relative! His great-great uncle, Jimmy Bancks, was the original creator of the famous Ginger Meggs comic strip. This comic started way back in 1921. Tristan even helped write the 100th anniversary book edition of Ginger Meggs.

Tristan's sister, Kerryn Johnston, used to be a newsreader for WIN Television. Tristan is married and has two sons.

Tristan on TV

Here are some of the TV shows and films Tristan Bancks has appeared in:

• Remote Area Nurse (2006) as Grub
• Beneath Clouds (2002) as Abduction Passenger
• Dust (1999/2000) as Mick
• Home and Away (1992–1994) as Tug O'Neale

Books by Tristan Bancks

Here is a list of books written by Tristan Bancks:

• Mac Slater Coolhunter 1: The Rules of Cool (2008)
• Mac Slater Coolhunter 2: I Heart NY (2009)
• Nitboy: Lift Off (2009)
• Nitboy: Bug Out (2009)
• It's Yr Life (with Tempany Deckert) (2009)
• My Life and Other Stuff I Made Up (2011)
• Galactic Adventures: First Kids in Space (2011)
• My Life and Other Stuff That Went Wrong (2014)
• Two Wolves (2014)
• My Life and Other Massive Mistakes (2015)
• On The Run (2015)
• My Life and Other Exploding Chickens (2016)
• The Fall (2017)
• My Life and Other Weaponized Muffins (2017)
• My Life and Other Failed Experiments (2018)
• Detention (2019)
• Ginger Meggs (with Jason Chatfield) (2021)
• Cop & Robber (2022)
• Scar Town (2023)