Clara Kumagai

CLARA KUMAGAI is from Canada, Japan and Ireland. She is a writer of fiction and nonfiction for both adults and young people. Her debut YA novel, Catfish Rolling, was named as a Best Book of 2023 by The Irish Times, the Observer and Waterstones. Catfish Rolling was nominated for the YOTO Carnegie Award and received the 2024 KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year Award. Her second YA novel, Songs for Ghosts, was published in 2025, and received starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus. It was named one of the Best Irish Books of 2025 by Children’s Books Ireland, and one of the Best Canadian Books of 2025. It has been nominated for the 2026 YOTO Carnegie Award and the White Pine Award. Clara lives and writes in Ireland.