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MIN READ
Our October Member Spotlight is Meg Caddy, award winning YA writer based in Western Australia.
Meg lives with one lovely kid and two dreadful cats. Meg’s first three novels, Waer, Devil’s Ballast and Slipping the Noose, have been short- and longlisted for awards including the CBCA Book of the Year Award and the Readings Young Adult Book Prize. Their novel A Flash in the Dust was the winner of the 2026 ARA Historical Novel Prize in the CYA category. Meg has completed an Honours degree in English/History and a PhD in Creative Writing. When they’re not writing or elbows-deep in archives, Meg plays an unhealthy amount of Dungeons & Dragons.
Congratulations on winning The Historical Novel Society Australasia’s 2026 ARAHistorical Novel Prize in the CYA category for A Flash in the Dust! What does it mean to you?
Thank you! It’s still hard to process, really. It is incredibly precious and validating, particularly for Flash, which is a book that is so close to the bone for me. And how marvellous, for the ARA and the Historical Novel Society to show such generosity to Australasian historical novelists.
In a practical sense, the award money gives me more time and freedom to write, and the prestige of the award itself has already opened up some wonderful opportunities for me to write and share my work.
What inspired you to begin a writing career?
Just the other day, my mum was saying that none of us kids ever really had a choice in our careers. I have three brothers, all of them professional musicians, and each of us locked in on our passions at a very early age. We’re all totally single-minded. As far back as I can recall, I always added ‘and a writer’ to whatever day job I aspired to. I started writing stories when I was six – my twelfth birthday party was a ‘book launch’ party, and my dad and brother built a catapult for us to physically launch the book across the party.
A lot of it does come down to my parents. They are huge readers, and my dad is a children’s author and a terrific storyteller. Our house was always full of books. My parents equipped me with the necessary tools early on, teaching me how to edit and accept tough critique, encouraging me and modelling resilience and a love of language. They were very realistic about how challenging it can be as a career, but they never tried to make me do anything else. That’s for the best: Caddys are stubborn.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the start of your career?
It’s all going to be okay.
…and that’s probably it, to be honest. The rest – find your community, support other writers, stop being so scared, the joy of the second draft, adventures are part of research! – I’m glad I didn’t know at the start of my career because I had to learn it along the way. Maybe that’s the harder, scarier way to do it, but I think that’s where the joy is.
Oh, and back up your drafts.
Which Australian authors or illustrators have been influential for you?
I do actually hate this question, because there are so many writers who have been influential for me and I cannot list them all. Australia has a thriving, supportive, kind writing scene, especially in the areas I’ve crossed through: children’s/YA, historical fiction, and speculative fiction. Writers like Angela Slatter, Amanda Curtin, and Meg McKinlay have been endlessly welcoming and generous, and their works have taught me so much about writing as a craft.
But the first time I actually felt like a writer, it was because of Juliet Marillier. I fell in love with Juliet Marillier’s writing when I was about thirteen; it was my first real foray into historical fiction/historical fantasy. I’m pretty sure I have every book she’s ever written. When I was fifteen, I had the immense privilege of being mentored by Juliet after winning a competition through the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre. Juliet helped me shape my clumsy adolescent early drafts of Waer into something that felt like a real book. She taught me how to write a synopsis, and supported me when I sent Waer off for the first time. I was lucky enough to be mentored by Juliet again when I was twenty-one, just after Waer had been contracted for publication. She has inspired and instructed me both on and off the page for about twenty years now, and always with the same quiet clarity, patience, and warmth.
Why are you a member of the ASA?
Now this is an easy question to answer. The ASA is our sword and shield. Every year when the ELR and PLR statements roll in, we know who to thank. When we set our rates for public appearances, we have the ASA standards ensuring that we are fairly paid. And in a world of rising AI slop and morally-bankrupt grifters, the ASA goes in to fight for us every time. The Australian writing industry benefits so greatly from the ASA’s advocacy, it is nothing short of a vital privilege to be a member.
Find out more about Meg Caddy at Megcaddy.com.au.
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