About & Press Kit

This page contains Dinuka’s bio and author photos, which can be used for promotional, press, or publicity purposes.

Please click on the photos for high resolution (print quality) images.

All image credits: Emma Stergio – Simply Loved Photography

Dinuka is pronounced Dee-noo-kah.

Bio

Dinuka McKenzie is an Australian writer. Her debut crime fiction manuscript The Torrent won the 2020 Banjo Prize for fiction and was published by HarperCollins Australia in February 2022. Her then unpublished manuscript Taken was longlisted for the 2020 Richell Prize and was published in 2023. She is represented by Alex Adsett Literary.

Dinuka’s writing has appeared in Openbook Magazine (State Library of NSW, Winter 2022), the Dark Deeds Downunder crime fiction anthology (Clan Destine Press, 2022) and in the Dreaming Inside Anthology, Volume 10 (Ngana Barangarai Project, 2022). Her short fiction ‘In the Mirror’ was highly commended in the Australian Crime Writers Association 2022 Louie Award. Dinuka was the fiction judge for the 2021 New England Thunderbolt Prize for crime writing.

When not writing, Dinuka works in the environmental sector and volunteers as part of the team behind the Writers’ Unleashed Festival. She lives in Southern Sydney on Dharawal Country with her husband, two kids and their pet chicken.

Events

Dinuka has appeared in multiple online and in-person events including the Sydney Writers Festival, Brisbane Writers Festival, Melbourne Writers Festival, South Coast Writers Festival, Writers Unleashed Festival, BAD Sydney Crime (online), Northern Beaches Readers Festival, Context Writers Festival, library talks, multiple podcasts, and radio, as well as hosting writing workshops for Writers South Australia, Writers Victoria, The Society of Women Writers NSW, and the Fellowship of Australian Writers (Sutherland).

Dinuka has interviewed and hosted in-conversation events with authors including Nardi Simpson, Michael Robotham, Candice Fox, Emma Viskic, R W R McDonald, Veronica Lando, and Carla Fitzgerald.

If you would like Dinuka to speak at your next event, please click here.

Check out Dinuka’s upcoming news and events here.

Author Photos

Monochrome publicity photo of Dinuka McKenzie from the waist up with bushland in the background. Dinuka has short black hair, brown skin and is wearing a plain long sleeved top,
Colour publicity photo of Dinuka McKenzie from the waist up with bushland in the background. Dinuka has short black hair, brown skin and is wearing a tan coloured long sleeved top,
Colour publicity photo of Dinuka McKenzie laughing while sitting on rocks with bushland in the background. Dinuka has short black hair, brown skin and is wearing a tan long sleeved top and blue jeans.
Monochrome close up publicity photo of Dinuka McKenzie laughing while sitting on rocks with bushland in the background. Dinuka has short black hair, brown skin and is wearing a long sleeved top.
Colour publicity photo of Dinuka McKenzie standing with a river in the background. Dinuka has short black hair, brown skin and is wearing a tan long sleeved top and blue jeans.