At Glenfern mansion, 2019
Warami. Marhaba. Jingi wallah!
My name is Mykaela Saunders and I’m a Koori/Goori and Lebanese writer, teacher and community researcher. I’ve won prizes for fiction, poetry, life writing and research, my writing has been widely published across forms, genres and disciplines, and my projects have attracted funding and fellowships.
I’m the editor of THIS ALL COME BACK NOW, the world’s first collection of blackfella speculative fiction (UQP).
I’ve worked in Aboriginal education in various capacities since 2003, and taught at the tertiary level since 2012. My research explores my community’s past, present and future.
I’m of Dharug descent and I belong to the Tweed Goori community. I live and work with gratitude on the lands of the Dharug, Kulin, and Bundjalung nations – Sydney, Melbourne, and the northern rivers of NSW.
Awards –
Winner
- QLA David Unaipon Award 2022, Always Will Be
- ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize 2020, River Story
- QPF Oodgeroo Noonuccal Indigenous Poetry Prize 2020, Choice Cuts
- National Indigenous Story Awards 2020, Fire Bug
- GMW Emerging Writers Prize 2019, West Footscray Factory Fire
- USYD Sister Alison Bush Medal 2016, Yarning With Minjungbal Women
Runner up
- Liminal Nonfiction Prize 2021, Communing With Uncle Kev
Shortlist
- Aurealis Award for Best Anthology 2022, This All Come Back Now
- Peter Blazey Fellowship 2022, Dear Uncle
- QLA David Unaipon Award 2020, Last Rites of Spring
- Liminal Fiction Prize 2019, Terranora
- Peter Carey Short Story Award 2019, Long Road Becoming
Longlist
- Booktopia Favourite Australian Book Award 2023, This All Come Back Now
Grants & fellowships
- Australia Council for the Arts Individual Project Grant 2022
- The Next Chapter Fellowship 2021
- Australia Council for the Arts Cherish II Grant 2020
- EWF At Home Residency 2020
- Creative Victoria VicArts Grant 2020
- Copyright Agency First Nations Fellowship 2020
- Grace Marion Wilson Glenfern Fellowship 2019
© Mykaela Saunders, 2023
Mykaela Saunders 