The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards, which ran from 1968 to 1995.
Dame Lynley Stuart Dodd is a New Zealand children's book author and illustrator. She is best known for her "Hairy Maclary and Friends" series, and its follow-ups, all of which feature animals with rhyming names and have sold over five million copies worldwide. In 1999, Dodd received the Margaret Mahy Award.
Fifi Colston is a writer, illustrator, poet, wearable arts designer, costume and props maker for the film industry and television presenter. She has written or illustrated over 30 books and is also a veteran entrant, finalist and winner in the World of Wearable Art Competition. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand.
Pamela Kay Allen is a New Zealand children's writer and illustrator. She has published over 50 picture books since 1980. Sales of her books have exceeded five million copies.
Polly Dunbar is an English author-illustrator.
Ruth Paul is a children's picture book author and illustrator from Wellington, New Zealand.
Sherryl Jordan is a New Zealand writer for children and young adults, specialising in fantasy and historical fiction. She has written a number of children's and young adult works published in New Zealand and overseas. She is best known for her books The Juniper Game and The Raging Quiet. She received the Margaret Mahy Medal for her contribution to children's literature, publishing and literacy in 2001.
Paula Joy Green is a New Zealand poet and children's author.
Betty Albertina Gilderdale was an English-born children's author from New Zealand. She received the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2014 for her services to children's literature.
The Storylines Tom Fitzgibbon Award is a New Zealand award for writers of children's literature. The award is open only to previously unpublished writers for an original work of fiction intended for children between 7 and 13 years of age. It is given annually, when merited, to the author in partnership with Scholastic NZ.
Kyle Mewburn is an Australian-New Zealand writer whose books have won many prizes and awards. She lives in Millers Flat, Central Otago, writes picture books and junior fiction and is a popular and well-known speaker at schools and literary festivals.
Maria Gill is a writer of children's non-fiction books, educational resources and freelance articles. A number of her books have been shortlisted for or have won awards, including Anzac Heroes which won the Non-fiction Award and the Supreme Book of the Year prize in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults in 2016. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand.
Robyn Belton is an illustrator of children's books. Her work, often focusing on themes of war and peace, has won many prizes, including the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards 1997 Picture Book Winner and Book of the Year, and the Russell Clark Award in 1985 and 2009. She herself has been recognised with the prestigious Storylines Margaret Mahy Award and the inaugural Ignition Children's Book Festival Award. She lives in Otago, New Zealand.
Vasanti Unka is a New Zealand writer, illustrator and graphic designer who has been involved in the book and magazine industry for many years. A number of her books have been shortlisted for awards and she won Best Picture Book and Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award at the 2014 New Zealand Post Book Awards with The Boring Book. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand.
Leonie Agnew is a children's writer and teacher. Several of her books have been shortlisted for or won awards, including the Tom Fitzgibbon Award in 2010, the Junior Fiction Section, the Children's Choice Junior Fiction section and the Best First Book Award of the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards 2012, and the Master of the Inkpot Competition in 2015. She has also been the recipient of a writing residency at the University of Otago. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand.
Nikola Slade Robinson, generally known as Nikki Slade Robinson, is a New Zealand children’s picture book writer and illustrator. Her books have been widely reviewed and shortlisted for a number of awards. The Little Kiwi’s Matariki won the Best Picture Book section of the 2016 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
Eirlys Elisabeth Hunter is a writer and creative writing teacher in New Zealand. She was born in London, England.
Elizabeth Pulford is a writer of fiction, poetry and non-fiction for children, teenagers and adults. Several of her books have been shortlisted for awards, and many of her short stories have won or been highly commended in national competitions. She lives in Outram, Otago, New Zealand.
John Steven Gurney is an American author and illustrator of children's books. Gurney is the author and illustrator of the picture book Dinosaur Train, as well as the Fuzzy Baseball graphic novel series. He has illustrated over 150 books. including popular series such as The Bailey School Kids, A to Z Mysteries, and the Calendar Mysteries. His work has also appeared in popular children’s magazines such as Cricket, Babybug, and Ladybird. Gurney is also an art educator. He is on the faculty at both Hollins University in Hollins, Virginia and Kutztown University of Pennsylvania in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, where he teaches illustration
Donovan Paul Bixley is an author and illustrator from Taupō, New Zealand. He has created or co-created over 100 books, published in numerous countries and languages. In 2017, Bixley received the Mallinson Rendel Illustrators Award, presented by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand for lifetime achievement as an illustrator.
