Margot McGovern is an award-winning YA and Horror author based in Adelaide, South Australia. 

Her YA Horror novel (and love letter to ’90s slashers), This Stays Between Us, won the inaugural John Marsden Prize for Writing for Young Adults in the 2026 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and is on the 2026 CBCA Older Readers Shortlist.

This Stays Between Us has also been shortlisted for Best Horror Novel and Best YA Novel in the 2026 Aurealis Awards, Best Young Adult Novel in the 2026 Thriller Awards, and Best Novel in the AHWA Shadows Awards. 

Margot’s debut YA novel, Neverland, was shortlisted for the Text Prize and the Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature.

She holds a creative writing PhD from Flinders University and her third novel, Our Dark Unravelling, will be published in Australia and the US in September 2026. 

Margot is represented by Danielle Binks and can be booked for school workshops and events via Becky’s Literary Bookings. 

For updates on Margot’s writing, follow her on Instagram: @margot.mcgovern.