MacDibble | Media

short bio

Bren lives in Kalbarri on Australia's sunny west coast where she runs a holiday business and writes children's novels. Her children's novels have won multiple awards and have been published in several countries. Bren writes adventure novels set in futures affected by environmental concerns.

long bio

Bren was raised in small towns and farms in the central North Island of New Zealand. In her mid 20s she backpacked around the world before finally stopping off in Melbourne, where she lived for 20 years raising two children, working and renovating a 100 year old house. She attended a Clarion South, and toured the US on motorbikes. A house fire finally shook her loose from Melbourne in 2017, the same year 'How to Bee' was published.
In 2018, 'How to Bee' picked up a Children's Book Council of Australia award, a New Zealand CYA Book award and the NSW Premier's Award. By then Bren was living in a motorhome and travelling around Australia. This trip ended early in 2020 in a bizarre race across the Nullarbor to beat border closures and get into Western Australia where they'd bought a holiday business a few months earlier.
Bren now lives in beautiful Kalbarri on the mid west coast, where she alternates scrubbbing loos at her holiday business with writing amazing fiction. A glamorous life indeed.
Bren's other books have also won awards and been published in several countries: 'In the Dark Spaces' (YA), 2017; 'The Dog Runner' 2019; 'Across the Risen Sea' 2020; and 'The Raven's Song' 2022 written with Zana Fraillon. The Apprentice Witnesser will be out in May 2024. Bren's books are adventure novels set in futures affected by climate or environmental issues, and give young readers the opportunity to explore some harsh topics within the safe confines of fiction.