Tyswan Slater was born in Vietnam, but grew up in the Blue Mountains, and returned there in 2000 to raise her daughter, build a strawbale house, and write.

She is primarily a novelist. Her first novel Crystal Mountain, Turtle Pond was short-listed for the 2004 Harper Collins Varuna Awards for Manuscript Development, and nominated for the 2008 Penguin/Varuna Scholarship Award.

Her short story "Lies" appeared in Visible Ink's 2007 anthology "Junk", and the short story "Justin's Prison" won the Jennifer Burbidge Short Story Award in the FAW(Vic) 2007 National Literary Awards.

She is currently working on her second novel, The Gate, a children's film script, and four illustrated narratives as part of a Masters of Creative Arts (Research) at the University of Technology Sydney. Her research proposal combines literature, fine arts and technology.

Tyswan has variously worked in the IT industry, written training material for TAFE, answered phones in a call centre, delivered papers at 4am, and once appeared on ABC Television's GP as an extra.