Maurice Gough Gee is a New Zealand novelist. He is one of New Zealand's most distinguished and prolific authors, having written over thirty novels for adults and children, and has won numerous awards both in New Zealand and overseas, including multiple top prizes at the New Zealand Book Awards, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in the UK, the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, the Robert Burns Fellowship and a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement. In 2003 he was recognised as one of New Zealand's greatest living artists across all disciplines by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, which presented him with an Icon Award.
Catherine Chidgey is a New Zealand novelist, short-story writer and university lecturer. She has published eight novels. Her honours include the inaugural Prize in Modern Letters; the Katherine Mansfield Fellowship to Menton, France; Best First Book at both the New Zealand Book Awards and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize ; the Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards on two occasions; and the Janet Frame Fiction Prize.
Keri Ann Ruhi Hulme was a New Zealand novelist, poet and short-story writer. She also wrote under the pen name Kai Tainui. Her novel The Bone People won the Booker Prize in 1985; she was the first New Zealander to win the award, and also the first writer to win the prize for a debut novel. Hulme's writing explores themes of isolation, postcolonial and multicultural identity, and Māori, Celtic, and Norse mythology.
Dame Fiona Judith Kidman is a New Zealand novelist, poet, scriptwriter and short story writer. She grew up in Northland, and worked as a librarian and a freelance journalist early in her career. She began writing novels in the late 1970s, with her works often featuring young women subverting society's expectations, inspired by her involvement in the women's liberation movement. Her first novel, A Breed of Women (1979), caused controversy for this reason but became a bestseller in New Zealand. Over the course of her career, Kidman has written eleven novels, seven short-story collections, two volumes of her memoirs and six collections of poetry. Her works explore women's lives and issues of social justice, and often feature historical settings.
Anne Kennedy is a New Zealand novelist, poet, and filmwriter.
Elizabeth Edwina Smither is a New Zealand poet and writer.
Charlotte Grimshaw is a New Zealand novelist, short-story writer, columnist and former lawyer. She has written both fiction and non-fiction, often drawing on her legal experience. Her short stories and longer works often have interlinked themes and characters, and feature psychological and family dramas.
Marilyn Rose Duckworth is a New Zealand novelist, poet and short story writer. Since her first novel was published at the age of 23 in 1959, she has published fifteen novels, one novella, a collection of short stories and a collection of poetry. Many of her novels feature women with complex lives and relationships. She has also written for television and radio. Over the course of her career she has received a number of prestigious awards including the top prize for fiction at the New Zealand Book Awards for Disorderly Conduct (1984) and a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in 2016.
Fiona Farrell is a New Zealand poet, fiction and non-fiction writer and playwright.
Elspeth Somerville Sandys is a New Zealand author and script writer.
Chris Tse is a New Zealand poet, short story writer and editor. His works explore questions of identity, including his Chinese heritage and queer identity. His first full-length poetry collection, How to be Dead in a Year of Snakes, won the Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book of Poetry at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards in 2016. In 2022, he was appointed as the New Zealand Poet Laureate from 2022 to 2024. In February 2024, his term was extended by another year.
Tracey Slaughter is a New Zealand writer and poet.
Chris Price is a poet, editor and creative writing teacher. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand.
Sheridan Keith is a New Zealand author, artist, broadcaster and curator.
Annaleese Jochems is a New Zealand author and bookseller. Her debut novel Baby (2017) won the Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing and the Hubert Church Best First Book Award for Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
Gina Annette Cole is a New Zealand writer and lawyer. Her writing is inspired by her experiences as a queer Fijian woman. Her short story collection Black Ice Matter received the award for best first book of fiction at the 2017 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Her first novel Na Viro was published in July 2022.
Cathie Koa Dunsford is a New Zealand novelist, poet, anthologist, lecturer and publishing consultant. She has edited several anthologies of feminist, lesbian and Māori/Pasifika writing, including in 1986 the first anthology of new women's writing in New Zealand. She is also known for her novel Cowrie (1994) and later novels in the same series. Her work is influenced by her identity as a lesbian woman with Māori and Hawaiian heritage.
Always Becominging is a New Zealand poet, editor and co-founder of the publishing house We Are Babies. Her 2021 publication I Am a Human Being won the best first book award (poetry) at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
Anthony Lapwood is a New Zealand short story writer. His debut collection Home Theatre, published in 2022, received the Hubert Church Prize for Fiction at the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
Fiona Stewart Sussman is a New Zealand novelist, short story writer and doctor. Born in Johannesburg, she moved to New Zealand in 1989 where she completed her medical degree and went on to work as a general practitioner until becoming a full time writer in 2003. She has published four novels since 2014, winning a number of awards for her writing. She has also won awards for her short stories, including the Sunday Star-Times Short Story Award in 2018.
