Kai Ash was raised in Yuggera country (Brisbane region, Queensland), where he grew up amid bush-covered ranges. Whenever his days seemed to grow dark, he would turn to books, seeking tales of strength and adventure. Once he was old enough, he left Yuggera country to explore the world for himself: Czechia, Palestine, Israel, New Zealand, Spain and Scotland. He studied gender, language, law and psychology before coming home to his beloved ranges.
Today, Kai still turns to stories when things begin to look dark. But now he writes them too. Kai’s work has been shortlisted in The Ampersand Prize, Adaptable, Lane Cove Literary Awards and Melbourne Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Awards, and he was a mentee in the ASA/CA Award Mentorship Program. The Boy Maeve is his first published novel.
WHAT CYA CONFERENCE DID FOR ME
I first attended the CYA Conference back in 2013, when I submitted a YA picture book manuscript for assessment. My assessor had one main comment: 'This is not a picture book,' she said, which was rather confronting to hear at the time! Though, with the benefit of hindsight, I can see how right she was. That little story spent many years sitting in a drawer, but the protagonist never quite left me alone. Years later, I returned to it, and I'm thrilled to say that that little story is now my debut novel, The Boy Maeve, due for release on 26 May 2026 by Hardie Grant Children's Publishing.
