K. A. Ren Wyld


K. A. Ren Wyld, also known as Ren Wyld, and formerly Karen Wyld, is an Aboriginal Australian writer of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. She is known for her 2020 novel, Where the Fruit Falls, and her 2021 non-fiction picture book for children, Heroes, Rebels and Innovators: Inspiring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People from History.

Early life and education

Wyld was born in South Australia, of Martu descent. Her grandmother's Country lies in the Pilbara, Western Australia.
Wyld earned a Master of Arts by research from University of Technology Sydney for her 2024 thesis "In Search of Blak Magic: Magic Realism ~ Aboriginal Novels".

Career

Wyld writes fiction and non-fiction, some of which examines aspects of colonisation, displacement, the Stolen Generations, and Indigenous rights in Australia.
Her first published novel was When Rosa Came Home in December 2013. Since then, she has published essays, book reviews, short stories, poetry, and a second novel.
In June 2019, Wyld's review of four novels, including Tony Birch's The White Girl and Melissa Lucashenko's Too Much Lip, was published in Meanjin.
Wyld's 2020 novel, Where the Fruit Falls, is set in South Australia and was published by UWA Publishing. Where the Fruit Falls won the Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript.
In 2021, Wyld's non-fiction picture book for children, Heroes, Rebels and Innovators: Inspiring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People from History, illustrated by Mununjali and Fijian illustrator Jaelyn Biumaiwai, was published. The book tells the stories of seven Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people during the years of early first contact with colonists. Among these are Dharug woman Patyegarang, who taught her language to the colonists at Sydney Cove in 1791, and the heroes of Gundagai, Yarri and Jacky Jacky, two Wiradjuri men who saved up to 70 settlers from drowning in a disastrous flood in 1852.
In 2024, an anthology of poetry and prose called The Rocks Remain: Blak Poetry and Story was published by Wakefield Press, co-edited by Wyld and Dominic Guerrera.
She appeared at Adelaide Writers' Week in March 2025.
Wyld made national headlines in 2025 when, just hours before the ceremony in Brisbane on 20 May at which she was to receive one of two black&write! writing fellowships from the State Library of Queensland, the award was rescinded on the instruction of Queensland arts minister John-Paul Langbroek. The decision was based on a 2024 tweet by Wyld about the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar by Israel, in which she called him a "martyr" and praised him for "resisting colonisation". She later said that she was not fully aware who Sinwar was at the time, and thought that she had deleted the tweet afterwards. The fellowship had been awarded for Wyld's unpublished manuscript for a novel entitled Whichway Shimmering Dust, written to highlight that the "Bringing Them Home" report on the Stolen Generations was published nearly 28 years earlier, but only 6 per cent of the recommendations had so far been actioned. Following the announcement, several panel judges for the Queensland Literary Awards resigned, including Jeanine Leane and writer and critic Nigel Featherstone. The Australian Society of Authors issued a statement condemning the action of the government. An open letter addressed to SLQ and the arts minister, signed by many notable First Nations writers as well as non-Indigenous allies, demanded "an immediate apology be offered to Ren Wyld and to the black&write! team, and for the fellowship to be reinstated in full".

Personal life

Wyld goes by the pronouns they/their or she, and the honorific Mx. Formerly known as Karen Wyld, she now calls herself K.A. Ren Wyld. Her X handle is Ren Wyld and she is also referred to by others by this name.
Wyld lives on the south coast of South Australia.

Recognition and awards

For works

Other awards