Melinda Szymanik, born 1963, is an author from New Zealand. She writes picture books, short stories and novels for children and young adults and lives in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Biography

Melinda Szymanik was born on 26 December 1963 in Auckland, where she grew up and still lives. As a child, some of her favourite books were '' Little House on the Prairie'' by

Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer, mostly known for the ''Little House on the Prairie'' series of children's books, published between 1932 and 1943, which were based on her childhood ...

and ''

The Moon in the Cloud ''The Moon in the Cloud'' is a light-hearted children's historical fantasy novel by Rosemary Harris, published by Faber in 1968. It is set in ancient Canaan and Egypt at the time of the Biblical Flood and rooted in the story of Noah's Ark. It i ...

'' by Rosemary Harris, among many others. She studied at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

for a Master of Science in zoology. Later she also completed a Diploma in Business Studies, a Bachelor of Arts in English at

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

and a Diploma in Children's Literature at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

. Melinda began writing seriously when her children were small. As well as novels and picture books, she has written short stories that have appeared in anthologies and in the ''

New Zealand School Journal The ''New Zealand School Journal'' is a periodical children's educational publication in New Zealand. Founded in 1907 by the Department of Education, it is one of the world's longest-running publications for children. Since 2013 it has been pub ...

'' and the ''Australian School Magazine''. She teaches creative writing workshops for adults and children, blogs on writing and the writing life and is a frequent speaker at schools, libraries and other literary events. With a group of other writers, she runs an online writing initiative for children called FABO Story. and is one of the presenters of the “Write like an author” school holiday writing camps. Melinda was a judge for the 2016 New Zealand Children's and Young Adults Book Awards and has appeared at writers’ festivals across New Zealand, including Storylines Festivals and panel discussions, the Dunedin Writers Festival 2014, the WORD Festival in Christchurch in 2014, True Stories Told Live in Wanaka in 2015, and the Auckland Writers Festival 2014 and 2017. Melinda's surname (pronounced 'Shi-manic') is Polish, and her Polish family history has always been very important to her. She took part in the Celebrating Everything Polish Festival in Wellington in 2014. Her novel ''A Winter's Day in 1939'' is based on the story of her father's boyhood in Poland and what happened to his family during World War Two, when they were captured by the Russians and sent to a Russian work camp in the country.

Awards and residencies

In 2014, Melinda Szymanik lived in Dunedin for six months as the

University of Otago College of Education / Creative New Zealand Children's Writer in Residence The University of Otago College of Education/Creative New Zealand Children's Writer in Residence is a six-month Fellowship for children's writers who normally live in New Zealand. History and conditions This residency was first offered in 1992 ...

. She was the recipient of a University of Otago Wallace Residency at the

Pah Homestead The Pah Homestead is a historic home located in the suburb of Hillsborough in Auckland, New Zealand. It is owned by the Auckland Council, and is currently used as an art gallery, housing the James Wallace Art Trust's collection of New Zealand ar ...

, Auckland, in 2015. Her books have won or been shortlisted for several awards and several have been named as Storylines Notable Books. ''The Were-Nana'' won the Children's Choice Award in the picture book category of the

NZ Post Children's Book Awards The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are a series of literary awards presented annually to recognise excellence in children and young adult's literature in New Zealand. The awards began in 1982 as the New Zealand Governm ...

in 2009 and was a Sakura Medal finalist in 2010. ''A Winter’s Day in 1939'' was a finalist for the Esther Glen Medal for Junior Fiction at the 2014 LIANZA Awards, and won the Librarians' Choice Award. ''Fuzzy Doodle'' (ill. Donovan Bixley) was a 2017 selection for a White Ravens book.

Bibliography

*''Clever Moo'', illustrated by Malcolm Evans (Scholastic, 2006) *''Jack the Viking'' (Scholastic, 2008) *''The Were-Nana'', ill. Sarah N. Anderson (Scholastic NZ, 2008) *''The House That Went to Sea,'' ill. Gabriella Klepatski ''(''Duck Creek Press, 2011) *''The Half-Life of Ryan Davis (''Tale-Spin Media'','' 2012) *''Made With Love,'' ill. Gabriella Klepatski (Duck Creek Press, 2012) *''Sally Bangle: Unexpected Detective'' (Tale-Spin Media, 2012) (e-book only) *''While You Are Sleeping,'' ill Greg Straight (Duck Creek Press, 2013) *''A Winter's Day in 1939'' (Scholastic, 2013) *''The Song of Kauri,'' ill. Dominique Ford (Scholastic, 2014) (published in Māori as ''Te Waiata o Kauri'') *''Fuzzy Doodle'', ill. Donovan Bixley (Scholastic, 2016) *''Time Machine & other stories'' (The Cuba Press, 2019) *''Sharing with Wolf'', ill.

Nikki Slade Robinson Nikola Slade Robinson (born 1968), generally known as Nikki Slade Robinson, is a New Zealand children’s picture book writer and illustrator. Her books have been widely reviewed and shortlisted for a number of awards. ''The Little Kiwi’s Matar ...

(Scholastic, 2020) *''Moon and Sun'', ill. Malene Laugesen (Upstart Press, 2021) *''My Elephant is Blue'', ill. Vasanti Unka (Puffin enguin NZ 2021) *''Lucy and the Dark'', ill. Vasanti Unka (Penguin Random House, 2023) *''Sun Shower/'' He Tārū Kahika'','' ill. Joy Te Aho-White, translated by Pānia Papa (Scholastic, 2023)

References

External links

* Melinda Szymanik'
blog
* Profile o
Melinda Szymanik
on Read NZ Te Pou Muramura website * Profile o

on Storylines website {{DEFAULTSORT:Szymanik, Melinda 1963 births Living people New Zealand children's writers New Zealand women children's writers