Kirsty McKay

I grew up in the North East of England, but I don't sound like it (except when shouting at the footy). Now I live in the North East of the USA, another place full of crazy sports fans with mad accents. In between the two I lived in London - mainly in the North East of London, actually - do we see a pattern here..?

I trained as an actor at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and trod the boards for a few years, then became a producer, running my own touring theatre company. It was during this time that I started writing plays for children and pantomimes, some of which are still being performed today. In fact, if you watched a panto at a school in England any time over the last twelve years, there's a pretty good chance that I wrote it. (That's if it was any good. If not, then it was definitely not one of mine.)

In 2008 the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators named me a winner of their search for new writers, and published my work in their inaugural anthology, Undiscovered Voices.