Amy Kaufman

Amie Kaufman is a New York Times bestselling and internationally bestselling Australian author of science fiction and fantasy for young adults. She is known for the Starbound Trilogy and Unearthed, which she co-authored with Meagan Spooner; for her series, The Illuminae Files, co-authored with Jay Kristoff; and for her solo series, Elementals. Her books have been published in over 35 countries. Kaufman grew up in both Ireland and Melbourne, Australia. She earned undergraduate degrees, with honors, in law, history, and literature. 

Later, she earned a Master's Degree in conflict resolution and worked for seven years as a mediator before becoming a full-time author. As of May 2018, she is a Ph.D. candidate in Creative Writing. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her husband and dog. Kaufman's debut, These Broken Stars, was co-authored with Meagan Spooner. The book was a New York Times bestseller and won an Aurealis Award for a Best Young Adult novel of the year.

The book was also shortlisted for a Golden Inky in the Australian Inky Awards and was named the Huffington Post Best YA Novel of 2013; the series was in development for TV in 2016, with Freeform in the US and Sky UK, with MGM the studio and Eric Balfour and Warren Littlefield producing. The sequel, This Shattered World, was a nominee for the Aurealis Award for best science fiction novel.

Kaufman's Illuminae, co-authored with Jay Kristoff, was acquired by Random House in a preempt in 2013. The first book in the series was published in late October 2015. It debuted at #5 on the New York Times Best Seller List Young Adult Hardcover list, eventually reaching the #2 spot. In November 2015, it was announced that Brad Pitt and his production company, Plan B Entertainment, had acquired the film rights to Illuminae. 

Illuminae was nominated for the 2016 Prime Minister's Literary Award, won the 2015 Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction novel, the 2016 Gold Inky Award for best teen fiction, and the 2016 Australian Book Industry Award Book of the Year for Older Children. The sequel Gemina debuted at #3 on the New York Times bestseller list and won the 2016 Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction novel. The third book in the series, Obsidio, debuted at #6 on the New York Times children's series list as the #1 young adult bestseller in Australia and as a USA Today bestseller.

Kaufman's next series with Spooner began with Unearthed in January 2018. In June 2017, ahead of the book's publication, it was announced that film rights had been acquired by Columbia Pictures, with Doug Liman as director and producer alongside Cross Creek Productions. Screenwriters were Jez Butterworth and John Henry Butterworth. Kaufman's first solo series and first series for younger readers, Elementals, began with Ice Wolves in March 2018. The book was a Spring 2018 Indie Next Pick and earned a starred review from Kirkus.