Tegan Bennett Daylight
Tegan Bennett Daylight is a writer, teacher and critic whose books include novels, short stories, essays on writing and reading, as well as fiction for children and young adults. Her collection of short stories, Six Bedrooms, was shortlisted for the ALS Gold Medal, the Steele Rudd Award and the 2016 Stella Prize. Her book of essays, The Details, was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Award for Non-Fiction.
Tegan’s YA novel Royals tells the story of six teenagers trapped in a parallel universe – only this parallel universe is in Penrith Plaza. Royals was published by Simon & Schuster in 2023 and shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Award for Young People’s Literature.
How to Survive 1985, a stand-alone YA novel but also the sequel to Royals, was published by Simon & Schuster in April 2025. The same six teenagers find themselves 40 years in the past, loving the music, hating the hair, and noticing all the changes we’ve seen and made since 1985. The third and final book in the Royals series is in the works.
Tegan works as a lecturer in English and Creative Writing at Western Sydney University, and lives with her family on Darug/Gundungurra land in the Blue Mountains.
Tegan will be appearing at the following events: