Profile

KIRSTIE MCKINNON writes, paints and surfs in Ōtepoti Dunedin, New Zealand. She is from Otago, and has strong connections with both coastal and inland environments. Kirstie has a BA from the University of Otago, and an MLIS from Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington. Her forthcoming poetry collection Storm was longlisted for the 2025 Kathleen Grattan Award. Her short stories have been shortlisted for the 2025 and 2026 Katherine Mansfield Sparkling Prose Award. Kirstie is inspired by people, conversation, the ocean, trees, creatures and the natural world. She writes A History of Kindness on Substack https://kirstiemckinnon.substack.com/ 

Books

Storm by Kirstie McKinnon, October 2026. Dromedary Collective Press. Ōtepoti Dunedin, New Zealand.

“These are poems of brave and generous heart. There’s alchemy here. One element, say, grief-haunted fear, meets another, say, light falling on late summer’s straw, and I feel the shift alive in my body.” ~ Carolyn McCurdie

CUMULUS: an anthology of skies, Editor: Kirstie McKinnon, Caselberg Press, 2023, in collaboration with photographer Carlos Biggemann and fourteen Dunedin and international poets. The development of CUMULUS is featured in the AttitudeLive documentary, Being Me: Carlos. https://attitudelive.com/player-page/being-me-carlos/ 

Lunar by Kirstie McKinnon, 2022. Published by the author. 

Songs from the Water by Kirstie McKinnon, 2020. Published by the author. 

“Songs from the Water is skillful and always speaking out of passionate, clear-eyed relationship with the earth and her creatures.” ~ Carolyn McCurdie

Published & Anthologised Poetry

Ambo. tākahe 104, April 2022.

arc.  Love in the Time of COVID: a chronicle of a pandemic
https://loveinthetimeofcovidchronicle.com/ , June 2021

As are you. The Otago Daily Times, 3 Feb 2018.

Coastal Trees. The Otago Daily Times, 8 Aug 2020.

Connect. tākahe 104, April 2022.

Deep Stream. Takahē 86, April 2016.

Evergreen Magnolia Mind. Corpus https://corpus.nz/that-other-anatomy-how-can-spirituality-sit-alongside-science/ , 1 Oct 2018. 

Eye contact. The Otago Daily Times, 15 June 2015.

Glennie. Landfall 246, edited by Lynley Edmeades. Otago University Press, 2023.

Indigo. The Otago Daily Times, 8 May 2021.

Lantern Room. The Otago Daily Times, 20 November 2021.

Lewis. Landfall 238, Nov 2019

Night Swim. The Otago Daily Times, 1 Sep 2018.

No Mind 2. A Liminal Gathering, edited by Iona Winter. Elixir & Star Press, 2023.

On Luxury. A National Poetry Day poster in Ōtepoti Dunedin, 2024.

Paint. Love in the Time of Covid website edited by Michelle Elvy, April 2022

Pine Cones. Poems in the Waiting Room, Autumn 2021.

Pussy Willow. Poto|Short, edited by Michelle Elvy & Kiri Piahana-Wong. Massey University Press, 2025.

Red Sky. Cumulus: an anthology of skies, an anthology of sky photography by Carlos Biggemann, and poetry by 14 poets, edited by Kirstie McKinnon. Caselberg Press, 2023. Red Sky was first published on the Love in the Time of COVID website, https://loveinthetimeofcovidchronicle.com/2021/05/01/cumulus-an-anthology-of-skies-kirstie-mckinnon-with-carlos-biggemann-poets/ , May 2021.

Ruru. Takahē 86, April 2016.

Shark Bell. The Otago Daily Times, 30 Dec 2013.

Shiel Hill. The Otago Daily Times, 4 Jan 2016.

Snails. Takahē 86, April 2016.

Solo to the South Pole. Antarctica Poetry Exhibition, 2019.

Stippling. Landfall | Tauraka 251, Autumn 2026, edited by Lynley Edmeades. Otago University Press, 2026.

Storm. The Otago Daily Times, 13 May 2023.

Wake. The Otago Daily Times, 3 Aug 2019.

A Water Cycle. Co-written with Susan Wardell. Perch, edited by Michelle Elvy. At the Bay | I Te Kokoru, 2024.

Waterfalls. Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature Possibilities Project, https://hail.to/dunedin-unesco-city-of-literature/article/Y6qHXOp , 25 May 2020.

Whale Mother. Corpus https://corpus.nz/that-other-anatomy-how-can-spirituality-sit-alongside-science/ , 4 March 2019. This poem also appears in: A Counter of Moons by Iona Winter. Steele Roberts Aotearoa, 2025.

Write about the weather, OK? A Shell-Print of Waves: Aramoana Poems, edited by David Eggleton & Michelle Elvy. At the Bay | I Te Kokoru, 2025.

 

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