Kelly Barnhill

Kelly Barnhill (December 7, 1973-) attended South High School in Minneapolis and later received her bachelor’s degree from St. Catherine’s University. She worked as a bartender, a teacher, a secretary, a park ranger, and a waitress before becoming an author. Though Barnhill studied writing in college, she did not start to write seriously until after her second child was born. Barnhill and her husband, architect Ted Barnhill, and their three children live in the Twin Cities, and Barnhill frequently does writing-related events in schools and other venues around the Midwest.

Barnhill has published four novels for children and is working on several others. Her most well-known novel, The Girl Who Drank the Moon, won a Newbery Medal in 2017, and she has also won the Parents Choice Gold Award, the Texas Library Association Bluebonnet Award, and the World Fantasy Award. Barnhill was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award in 2019. Her short stories and nonfiction can be found on her website, where she also keeps a blog.

More information on Kelly Barnhill from the Minnesota Writers Directory.