Melissa Keil

Where were you born?

I was born in Melbourne and raised in the north-west.

What other jobs have you had?

Too many to count! At various times I have worked as a Mexican-restaurant waitress, community theatre dogs body, high school teacher, tour guide in the Middle East, and IT help-desk person. I have no idea how I stumbled into that last job – apart from ‘have you tried turning it off and on again’, my IT trouble-shooting skills were pretty limited. Now I work as a children’s commissioning editor.

What themes are recurring in your work?

I have a soft spot for creative, weird outsiders – for the people who don’t always have the easiest time in high school. I love exploring those characters who you just know are going to become phenomenal, interesting, happy, weird adults, but who are struggling through the phase in their lives where their awesomeness is not always appreciated.

What have been the highlights of your career?

Being selected out of 250 manuscripts to have my first novel published in the inaugural Ampersand Prize was a highlight! Since then there have been so many highlights – appearing at writers festivals and meeting young readers and writers never ceases to be amazing. Doing a comedy event on stage at the Emerging Writers Festival, and actually getting a laugh was a huge highlight, as I think it’s probably been the most nerve-inducing public speaking gig I’ve ever had!

Where have your works been published?

My novels have been published all around the world – in the US and Canada, the UK, Spain, Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Turkey to name a few.

What are you passionate about?

I’m passionate about giving all kids the widest, fullest opportunities to experience the world and to exercise their imaginations outside of the boxes they’re often placed in; so gender representation, as well as issues of class in kids and YA books are big areas of interest for me.