{{Short description|Australian children's writer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}{{Use Australian English|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox writer | name = Meg McKinlay | awards = [[Prime Minister's Literary Awards]] YA Fiction (2016) & Children's Fiction (2021) | genre = {{Cslist|Young adult fiction|children's picture books}} | alma_mater = [[University of Western Australia]] | occupation = {{Cslist|Children's writer|young adult novelist|poet}} }}
'''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 Award]]s.
== Biography == Born Megan McKinlay, she spent her childhood in [[Bendigo]], Victoria. During high school she was an exchange student in Japan.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=|title=Megan McKinlay|url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A71488|access-date=2021-12-18|website=AustLit: Discover Australian Stories|language=en}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{Citation|author1=McKinlay|first=Megan|title=Gender and cross-cultural analysis: The novels of Tsushima Yûko 1976–1985|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/192730513|publication-date=2001|access-date=18 December 2021}}</ref> She subsequently lectured at UWA in [[Australian literature]], Japanese and creative writing and, {{As of|2016|lc=y}} was an honorary research associate of that university.<ref>{{Cite web|date=Spring 2015|title=UWA's 'book bag'|url=https://www.web.uwa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/3011428/124130_MARCOM-UNIVIEW-SCREEN-spring-2015-vol-35.pdf|access-date=2021-12-18|website=University of Western Australia|page=42}}</ref>
In 2010 she won a residency in Japan and in 2020 she won a [[May Gibbs]] Children's Literature Trust Fellowship.<ref name=":2" /> As well as writing for children and young adults, she has published one book of poetry, ''Cleanskin''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Meg McKinlay|url=https://www.varuna.com.au/meg-mckinlay|access-date=2021-12-18|website=Varuna|language=en-AU}}</ref>
McKinlay currently lives in [[Fremantle]], Western Australia.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Harrison|first=Penny|date=2021-02-23|title=10 Quirky Questions with author Meg McKinlay|url=http://www.kids-bookreview.com/2021/02/10-quirky-questions-with-author-meg.html|access-date=2021-12-18|website=kid's book review}}</ref>
== Awards ==
* ''Surface Tension'' ** 2012 [[Davitt Award]], Best Young Adult Novel winner<ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=2012-09-04|title=2012 Davitt Awards winners announced|url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2012/09/04/24855/2012-davitt-awards-winners-announced/|access-date=2021-12-18|website=Books+Publishing|language=en-AU}}</ref> * ''Ten Tiny Things'' ** 2013 [[Crystal Kite Award]], New Zealand/Australia regional winner<ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=2013-05-02|title='Ten Tiny Things' wins SCBWI Crystal Kite Award|url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2013/05/02/27054/ten-tiny-things-wins-scbwi-crystal-kite-award/|access-date=2021-12-18|website=Books+Publishing|language=en-AU}}</ref> * ''A Single Stone'' ** 2015 [[Aurealis Award for best children's fiction]] winner<ref name="AAW 2015">{{citation|title=The Winners of the 2015 Aurealis Awards|date=2016-03-25|url=https://aurealisawards.org/2016/03/25/the-winners-of-the-2015-aurealis-awards/|publisher=Aurealis Awards|access-date=2021-12-18}}</ref> ** 2015 [[Queensland Literary Awards]], Children's Book Award winner<ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=2015-10-12|title=Queensland Literary Awards 2015 winners announced|url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2015/10/12/34183/queensland-literary-awards-2015-winners-announced/|access-date=2021-12-18|website=Books+Publishing|language=en-AU}}</ref> ** 2016 [[Prime Minister's Literary Awards]],Young Adult Fiction winner<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2016-11-08|title=Prime Minister's Literary awards 2016: Lisa Gorton and Charlotte Wood share fiction prize|url=http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/nov/09/prime-ministers-literary-awards-2016-lisa-gorton-and-charlotte-wood-share-fiction-prize|access-date=2021-12-18|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=2016-11-09|title=Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2016 winners announced|url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2016/11/09/80802/prime-ministers-literary-awards-2016-winners-announced/|access-date=2021-12-18|website=Books+Publishing|language=en-AU}}</ref> * ''Catch a Falling Star'' ** 2019 [[Western Australian Premier's Book Awards]], winner Prize for Writing for Children<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2020-08-10|title=Scott joins WA Writers Hall of Fame, WA Prem's Book Award winners announced|url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2020/08/10/154890/scott-joins-wa-writers-hall-of-fame-wa-prems-book-award-winners-announced/|access-date=2021-12-18|website=Books+Publishing}}</ref> ** 2020 [[Crystal Kite Award]] New Zealand/Australia regional winner<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=|date=2021-05-14|title='How to Make a Bird' wins SCBWI Crystal Kite Award|url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2021/05/14/186303/how-to-make-a-bird-wins-scbwi-crystal-kite-award/|access-date=2021-12-18|website=Books+Publishing|language=en-AU}}</ref> * ''How to Make a Bird'' ** 2020 [[Western Australian Premier's Book Awards]], winner Prize for Writing for Children<ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=2021-08-26|title=WA Premier's Book Awards announced|url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2021/08/26/192143/wa-premiers-book-awards-announced/|access-date=2021-12-18|website=Books+Publishing|language=en-AU}}</ref> ** 2021[[Prime Minister's Literary Awards]], Children's Fiction winner<ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=2021-12-15|title=PMLA 2021 winners announced|url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2021/12/15/207378/pmla-2021-winners-announced/|access-date=2021-12-18|website=Books+Publishing|language=en-AU}}</ref> ** 2021 [[Crystal Kite Award]], New Zealand/Australia regional winner<ref name=":1"/> ** 2021 [[Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book]] winner<ref>{{Cite web|last=O'Brien|first=Kerrie|date=2021-08-20|title=At the end of the world there is love: winners of 2021 CBCA awards announced|url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/at-the-end-of-the-world-there-is-love-winners-of-2021-cbca-awards-20210817-p58jen.html|access-date=2021-12-18|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=2021-08-21|title=CBCA Book of the Year 2021 winners announced|url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2021/08/20/191847/cbca-book-of-the-year-2021-winners-announced/|access-date=2021-12-18|website=Books+Publishing|language=en-AU}}</ref>
== 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
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{Official website|https://megmckinlay.com/}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKinlay, Meg}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:Australian women children's writers]] [[Category:21st-century Australian women writers]] [[Category:People from Bendigo]] [[Category:University of Western Australia alumni]] [[Category:Academic staff of the University of Western Australia]] [[Category:Davitt Award winners]]