Kay Kerr

Kay Kerr’s debut young adult novel, Please Don’t Hug Me, explores love, loss and friendship through the eyes of Erin, a young woman on the autism spectrum. Kay joins Anna Whateley, a fellow neurodivergent author, for a funny, warm and enlightening conversation about Please Don’t Hug Me, the joys and complexities of writing the teen experience, and the importance of the #ownvoices movement in YA literature.

This recording is available on all major podcast platforms.

Kay Kerr (Australian)

Kay Kerr is a former journalist and community newspaper editor from Brisbane, now living on the Sunshine Coast and working as a freelance writer. Her work can be found at Peppermint Magazine, Daily Life, Organic Gardener and Broadsheet. Kay was writing the first draft of Please Don't Hug Me when she received her autism-spectrum diagnosis.

Anna Whateley (Australian)

Anna Whateley is an 'own voices' author, proudly autistic, with ADHD and sensory processing disorder. Her debut novel, Peta Lyre's Rating Normal will be published in May 2020 with her essay contribution inGrowing Up Disabled in Australia published June 2020. Anna lives in Brisbane with her family, two dogs, and two rescue guinea pigs. She has always worked in literature and education, and holds a PhD in young adult fiction.