Born in Huntly, she holds a PhD in New Zealand history from the University of Waikato. Challinor has worked as a fulltime writer and historian since 2000.
Tara Moss is an internationally bestselling author, documentary host and human rights advocate. She is the author of 15 books, published in 19 countries and 13 languages. Her latest, The Italian Secre…
Emily Perkins is a writer of contemporary fiction, and the success of her first collection of stories, not her real name and other stories, established her early on as an important writer of her gener…
Catherine Chidgey is a novelist and short story writer whose work has been published to international acclaim. In a Fishbone Church won Best First Book at the New Zealand Book Awards and at the Common…
Damien Wilkins writes fiction, and he has published short stories, novels, and poetry. His writing has been described as ‘exuberant and evocative, subtle and exact, aware of its own artifice yet relis…
Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill was a New Zealand actor. His career has included leading roles in both independent films and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he is regarded a…
I was born and grew up near Liverpool, England. For a while I worked as a magazine journalist in London but then 21 years ago I came on holiday to New Zealand and met my future husband Carne Bidwill a…
Dame Julie Bethridge Topp DNZM was a New Zealand entertainer. She was one half of the Topp Twins, a music comedy duo; the other member was her twin sister Lynda Topp. With her sister, she became one o…
Anne Cleary was born and raised in West Auckland and moved to Tauranga in 2016. Her short stories have won places in competitions and feature in magazines and anthologies in Aotearoa and Australia. Sh…
Hannah Kent's first novel, the international bestseller, Burial Rites (2013), was translated into 30 languages and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and the Guardian First Book Award. …
Becky Manawatu (Ngāi Tahu) was born in Nelson in 1982, raised in Waimangaroa and has returned there to live with her family. She worked as a reporter for The News in Westport.
The Right Honourable Dame Jacinda Ardern was elected the 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand at the age of thirty-seven, becoming the country’s youngest Prime Minister in more than 150 years. Since lea…
PIPPA LATOUR was the last surviving SEO agent, serving in France until its liberation. For seventy years, Pippa's contributions to the war effort were largely unheralded, but she was finally given her…
