Melinda Szymanik （New Zealand）
Author of stories for young people, including novels, short stories and picture books. She also writes poetry for adults and children. With nearly twenty published books to her name, noteworthy titles include: The Were-Nana (2008), winner of Children’s Choice at the 2009 NZ Post Children’s Book Awards, A Winter’s Day in 1939 (2013), winner of Librarian’s Choice at the 2014 LIANZA Awards, and Fuzzy Doodle, a 2017 White Raven selection. Recent books include the short story collection Time Machine and Other Stories, a finalist for the 2020 NZCYA Awards, and the picture books, My Elephant is Blue and There Are No Moa, e Hoa, both recipients of Storylines Notable Book Awards. Melinda was the 2014 University of Otago, College of Education, Creative New Zealand Children’s Writer in Residence, and a judge for the 2016 NZCYA Book Awards. Melinda is a visiting author in schools and teaches creative writing to both children and adults.