SCBWIAustEast would love to congratulate Dr Stephanie Owen Reeder, one of Australia’s most recent OAMs. Stephanie is a children’s author with a deep love of books, art, history and the environment and we are thrilled that she has been honoured with this award for services to Children’s Literature.
This what Stephanie had to say about the award:
I have been involved in the world of children's literature since the 1980s as a reviewer, academic, critic, and editor. And, since retiring from Hansard at Federal Parliament in 2006, I've been the author and illustrator of over 30 books. Along with my family, children's literature has been my love and my passion, and so I was totally discombobulated to find out that I had been awarded an Order of Australia Medal for services to children's literature in the 2026 Australia Day Honours.
Over the years I have been supported, encouraged and inspired by the Children's Book Council of Australia, SCBWI, Marion Writers, the ACT Chief Minister's Reading Challenge and the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature. I've worked with amazing publishers, including Susan Hall and Lauren Smith at the National Library of Australia and Briana Melideo at CSIRO Publishing. I've been mentored by the one and only Emeritus Professor Belle Alderman AM, and I've had the ongoing support of many creative friends, especially Tania McCartney, Cate Whittle and Irma Gold. They are all simply the best.
Dr Stephanie Owen Reeder OAM
Huge congratulations Stephanie from all your SCBWI friends. So well deserved.