Biography

Annika Dunklee was born in Uppsala, Sweden, to a Scottish father and a Swedish mother. As such, she enjoyed the influences of Basil Fawlty and Pippi Longstocking, while eating haggis and pickled-herring sandwiches. Her debut book, My Name Is Elizabeth!, was originally a class assignment for Ted Staunton's course in Writing Children's Fiction at George Brown College. She bases a lot of her stories on her own childhood memories.

On the first day of school each year, every teacher would mispronounce Annika's name as “Ann-eeka,” making her cringe inside and forever fret the first day of school. My Name Is Elizabeth! was inspired by every person who dislikes having his or her name shortened, lengthened, mispronounced or mangled in some way. Her second book, Me, Too!, was based on her own experiences with having two best friends as a child.

Annika has retained certain characteristics since childhood, which include being an excruciatingly slow reader and having laughing hysterics in the most inappropriate situations. She currently resides in Halton Hills, with her husband, daughter, and dog Edie.