Dame Jennifer Mary Shipley is a New Zealand former politician who served as the 36th prime minister of New Zealand from 1997 to 1999. She was the first female prime minister of New Zealand, and the first woman to have led the National Party.
Margaret Mahy was a New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. Many of her story plots have strong supernatural elements but her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growing up. She wrote more than 100 picture books, 40 novels and 20 collections of short stories. At her death she was one of thirty writers to win the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Medal for her "lasting contribution to children's literature".
Patricia Frances Grace is a New Zealand Māori writer of novels, short stories, and children's books. She began writing as a young adult, while working as a teacher. Her early short stories were published in magazines, leading to her becoming the first female Māori writer to publish a collection of short stories, Waiariki, in 1975. Her first novel, Mutuwhenua: The Moon Sleeps, followed in 1978.
Amanda Hager is a writer of fiction and non-fiction for children, young adults and adults. Many of her books have been shortlisted for or won awards, including Singing Home the Whale which won both the Young Adult fiction category and the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults in 2015. She has been the recipient of several fellowships, residencies and prizes, including the Beatson Fellowship in 2012, the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship in 2014, the Waikato University Writer in Residence in 2015 and the Margaret Mahy Medal and Lecture Award in 2019.
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.
Samuel Marsden Collegiate School is a private composite girls school located in the Wellington suburb of Karori in New Zealand. It has a socio-economic decile of 10 - on a scale from 1 to 10, 1 reflecting the lowest socioeconomic communities - and provides year one to 13 education for girls, with a co-educational pre-school. Its exam results rank consistently in the top schools in New Zealand. Samuel Marsden Collegiate School students complete the New Zealand National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA).
Jennifer Cecily Ward-Lealand is a New Zealand theatre and film actor /director, teacher and intimacy coordinator. She has worked for 40 years, appearing in over 120 theatre performances: Greek, Shakespeare, drama, comedy, devised, and musical theatre. Her screen credits include the 1993 movie Desperate Remedies as well as appearances in The Footstep Man, the soap Shortland Street and Australian comedy series Full Frontal.
Dame Vera Doreen Blumhardt was a New Zealand potter, ceramicist and arts educator.
Bridget Rosamund Williams is a New Zealand publisher and founder of two independent publishing companies: Port Nicholson Press and Bridget Williams Books.
Parris Renee Goebel, also known professionally as Parris, is a New Zealand choreographer, dancer, singer, director and actress. She is the founder and main choreographer of the dance school "The Palace Dance Studio", which has produced groups such as ReQuest, Sorority, Bubblegum, and Royal Family. The latter has won the World Hip Hop Dance Championship three times in a row, becoming the first group in history to achieve it.
Hohi Ngapera Te Moana Keri Kaa was a New Zealand writer, educator, and advocate for the Māori language. She was of Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Kahungunu descent.
Dame Wendy Edith Pye is a publisher from New Zealand. Her company, Wendy Pye Group, is considered one of the world's most successful educational export companies.
Paula Joy Green is a New Zealand poet and children's author.
Glenda Joy Anthony is a New Zealand mathematics teaching academic. She is currently a full professor at the Massey University.
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.
Jennifer Lillian Beck is a New Zealand writer of over 50 children’s books. Her work, often focusing on themes of history, peace and war, has won numerous prizes and awards. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand.
The NZSA Waitangi Day Literary Honours are awarded each year to one or more New Zealand writers. They are an initiative of the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa and were first given out in 2014.
Jill Ethel Eggleton is a New Zealand children's book author, teacher and education consultant. She received the Margaret Mahy Award in 2015 for Everyone Has A Story. Eggleton has authored over 800 children's books; in 2009 alone she wrote 60 books. She was appointed Companion of the Queen's Service Order (QSO) in the 2010 New Year Honours "for services to education and literacy". Eggleton lives in Parnell, Auckland.
Shaun Cameron Hendy is a New Zealand physicist. He is currently a professor at the University of Auckland and was the first director of Te Pūnaha Matatini, a centre of research excellence in complex systems and data analytics. During the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, he led a team of scientists developing mathematical models of the spread of the virus across the country that influenced the government's response to the outbreak.
George William Bryant is a New Zealand writer, politician and theologian. He was a councillor for Whangarei District Council for six years during the 1980s and twice stood in parliamentary elections for Social Credit.
