Meg McKinlay explained

Meg McKinlay
Awards:	Prime Minister's Literary Awards YA Fiction (2016) & Children's Fiction (2021)
Alma Mater:	University of Western Australia

Meg McKinlay is a Western Australian writer. She has written a number of books for children and young adults, including How to Make a Bird and A Single Stone. She has won two Prime Minister's Literary Awards and three Crystal Kite Awards.

Biography

Born Megan McKinlay, she spent her childhood in Bendigo, Victoria. During high school she was an exchange student in Japan.^[1] She graduated with a PhD from the University of Western Australia (UWA) in 2001 for her thesis "Gender and cross-cultural analysis: The novels of Tsushima Yûko 1976–1985". She subsequently lectured at UWA in Australian literature, Japanese and creative writing and, was an honorary research associate of that university.^[2]

In 2010 she won a residency in Japan and in 2020 she won a May Gibbs Children's Literature Trust Fellowship. As well as writing for children and young adults, she has published one book of poetry, Cleanskin.^[3]

As of 2021 McKinlay lives in Fremantle, Western Australia.^[4]

Awards

• Surface Tension
  • 2012 Davitt Award, Best Young Adult Novel winner^[5]
• Ten Tiny Things
  • 2013 Crystal Kite Award, New Zealand/Australia regional winner^[6]
• A Single Stone
  • 2015 Aurealis Award for best children's fiction winner
  • 2015 Queensland Literary Awards, Children's Book Award winner^[7]
  • 2016 Prime Minister's Literary Awards,Young Adult Fiction winner^{[8] [9]}
• Catch a Falling Star
  • 2019 Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, winner Prize for Writing for Children^[10]
  • 2020 Crystal Kite Award New Zealand/Australia regional winner^[11]
• How to Make a Bird
  • 2020 Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, winner Prize for Writing for Children^[12]
  • 2021Prime Minister's Literary Awards, Children's Fiction winner^[13]
  • 2021 Crystal Kite Award, New Zealand/Australia regional winner^[11]
  • 2021 winner^{[14] [15]}

Selected works

• The Truth about Penguins, co-authored with Mark Jackson, 2010
• Surface Tension, 2011
• Ten Tiny Things, illustrated by Kyle Hughes-Odgers, 2012
• A Single Stone, 2015
• Duck!, illustrated by Nathaniel Eckstrom, 2018
• Catch a Falling Star, 2019
• How to Make a Bird, illustrated by Matt Ottley, 2020
• Bella and the Voyaging House, illustrated by Nicholas Schafer, 2021

Notes and References

1. Web site: Megan McKinlay. 2021-12-18. AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. en.
2. Web site: Spring 2015. UWA's 'book bag'. 2021-12-18. University of Western Australia. 42.
3. Web site: Meg McKinlay. 2021-12-18. Varuna. en-AU.
4. Web site: Harrison. Penny. 2021-02-23. 10 Quirky Questions with author Meg McKinlay. 2021-12-18. kid's book review.
5. Web site: 2012-09-04. 2012 Davitt Awards winners announced. 2021-12-18. Books+Publishing. en-AU.
6. Web site: 2013-05-02. 'Ten Tiny Things' wins SCBWI Crystal Kite Award. 2021-12-18. Books+Publishing. en-AU.
7. Web site: 2015-10-12. Queensland Literary Awards 2015 winners announced. 2021-12-18. Books+Publishing. en-AU.
8. Web site: 2016-11-08. Prime Minister's Literary awards 2016: Lisa Gorton and Charlotte Wood share fiction prize. 2021-12-18. The Guardian. en.
9. Web site: 2016-11-09. Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2016 winners announced. 2021-12-18. Books+Publishing. en-AU.
10. Web site: 2020-08-10. Scott joins WA Writers Hall of Fame, WA Prem's Book Award winners announced. 2021-12-18. Books+Publishing.
11. Web site: 2021-05-14. 'How to Make a Bird' wins SCBWI Crystal Kite Award. 2021-12-18. Books+Publishing. en-AU.
12. Web site: 2021-08-26. WA Premier's Book Awards announced. 2021-12-18. Books+Publishing. en-AU.
13. Web site: 2021-12-15. PMLA 2021 winners announced. 2021-12-18. Books+Publishing. en-AU.
14. Web site: O'Brien. Kerrie. 2021-08-20. At the end of the world there is love: winners of 2021 CBCA awards announced. 2021-12-18. The Sydney Morning Herald. en.
15. Web site: 2021-08-21. CBCA Book of the Year 2021 winners announced. 2021-12-18. Books+Publishing. en-AU.