Nean McKenzie is a children’s writer and optometrist who lives in western Melbourne with her family. Originally from Bendigo, Nean lived in New Zealand, Europe and North East Africa before returning to Victoria.
Nean’s first middle grade novel Cryptosight came out in 2019 with MidnightSun Publishing. Nean was awarded a Maurice Saxby mentorship for this story in 2016. Her second published book Xenoflight (2022) is a companion novel to Cryptosight. Nean’s third book Timefire came out in July 2023. Nean has a diploma in Professional Writing and Editing from RMIT. In 2023, Nean was awarded a fellowship at the KSP Writers Centre in Perth for her current work in progress. Also in 2023, Xenoflight was short-listed for a Taco award for best junior fiction.
When not writing or testing people’s eyes, Nean enjoys running and travelling to interesting places around the world. She also likes bush-walking and reading middle-grade books.
