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.
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.
Clive David Hill is a New Zealand author, especially well known for his young adult fiction. His young fiction books See Ya, Simon (1992) and Right Where It Hurts (2001) have been shortlisted for numerous awards. He is also a prolific journalist, writing many articles for The New Zealand Herald.
Paula Joy Green is a New Zealand poet and children's author.
Barbara Helen Else, also known as Barbara Neale, is a New Zealand writer, editor, and playwright. She has written novels for adults and children, plays, short stories and articles and has edited anthologies of children's stories. She has received a number of awards and fellowships including the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature, the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal and the Victoria University of Wellington's Writer's Fellowship.
Anna Mackenzie is a New Zealand writer of contemporary, historic and speculative fiction for adult and young adult audiences. She has won numerous awards for her writing and also works as an editor, mentor, teacher of creative writing programmes and public speaker at festivals and in schools.
Mary-anne Scott is a writer, singer and musician. Her books have been shortlisted for awards and Snakes and Ladders won the Children's Choice Award in the Young Adult category of the 2013 New Zealand Children's Book Awards. She lives in Havelock North, New Zealand, and has four sons and five grandchildren.
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.
Janice Marriott is a writer, editor, audio producer, screenwriter, creative writing tutor and mentor, manuscript assessor, poet and gardener. Several of her books have been shortlisted for or won awards and she has also been the recipient of a number of writing residencies, as well as the prestigious Margaret Mahy Medal in 2018. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand.
Melinda Szymanik, born 1963, is an author from New Zealand. She writes picture books, short stories and novels for children and young adults and 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, the Master of the Inkpot Competition in 2015 and the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2022. She has also been the recipient of a writing residency at the University of Otago. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand.
Lorraine Orman is a New Zealand writer, librarian, writing tutor, competition judge and reviewer. She has written books for children and young adults and a number of her short stories have been anthologised. Her novel Cross Tides won the Best First Book Award at the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards in 2005. She lives in Christchurch.
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.
Bob Kerr is an author, illustrator and artist based in Wellington, New Zealand. He writes and illustrates children’s books and has won several awards for his work. He lives and works in Wellington, New Zealand.
Frances Eleanor Cherry was a New Zealand novelist, short-story writer, and teacher of creative writing.
Shirley Corlett is a writer of fiction for children and adults. She lives in Masterton, New Zealand.
Melanie Jane Drewery is a New Zealand children's writer, illustrator and potter, best-known for her Nanny Mihi series of children's picture books. Her books feature Māori language and culture. She has said she believes it is important for New Zealand children to see their culture reflected in books. In 2008 her book Tahi: One Lucky Kiwi won the award for Best Picture Book at the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
