Moira McKinnon graduated in medicine from the University of Western Australia and travelled widely as a specialist in population health. Her particular interests are emerging infectious diseases and the relationship with global and environmental health. She sees a loss for modern society in the casting away of the knowledge of indigenous cultures and believes understanding the relationship that indigenous people had with the land is an important part of the future of wellbeing of the environment and humankind.Dr McKinnon's essay, 'Who Killed Matilda?', on indigenous health, religion and social progress, was joint winner of the 2011 Calibre Prize and was published in the Australian Book Review.Cicada is Moira's first novel. She currently lives in Canberra with her husband and two children