Sarah was born and raised on Auckland’s North Shore, and trained as a newspaper journalist before working in magazines and book publishing. She has a Bachelor of Arts in New Zealand history from Massey University and a Master of Creative Writing from

Kirsty has published two novels – part historical novels and part contemporary and has published short stories and poems in anthologies. She won the 2020 New Zealand Book Lovers Award for best adult fiction.Whilst on her residency Kirsty is delighted

Chris is a poet and editor based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara | Wellington. He is the author of three poetry collections published by Auckland University Press: How to be Dead in a Year of Snakes (winner of the 2016 Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book

Trina descends from Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Whawhaakia and Pākeha whakapapa. She grew up in Kirikiriroa and has lived in Tamaki Mākarau, London and Geneva. She has been a Primary School Teacher, Bookseller, Autism Coach, and in 2025 c

Cassie (Kāi Tahu/Pākehā) is an award winning author, editor, and mentor living under the watchful gaze of Taranaki Maunga. She writes primarily adult speculative fiction and personal essays, but loves stories for all ages. Working as a youth libraria

Claire is a Rotorua writer whose first novel Dice was published in 2023 by Allen & Unwin (Aus/NZ). Dice, a literary courtroom drama, drew on Claire’s research into juror narratives in sexual violence trials. Dice was part of her PhD thesis, from

Connie is a Hamilton writer, who works as the Deputy-Editor of E-Tangata magazine. Her short stories and essays have been published in Landfall, Newsroom, Takahē, Headland, E-Tangata, NZ Geographic and elsewhere. She completed the creative writing wo

Dr Vincent O’Malley FRHistS FRSNZ is a Wellington writer and historian who has authored many bestselling and acclaimed works on Aotearoa New Zealand history, including The Great War for New Zealand: Waikato 1800-2000 (2016) and The New Zealand Wars/N

We have welcomed Josie, our eleventh writer-in-residence – she is a fiction writer who lives in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland. Josie is the author of two novels published by Allen & Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand: Good Things Come and Go and Everything

Anne completed a Master of Creative Writing at AUT in 2014. Two years later, she won the Storylines Tom Fitzgibbon Award with Tūī Street Tales, (Scholastic), which is a collection of inter-linked stories for 8-12-year-olds. The following sequels, Tūī

Emma, (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha) is a writer living and working in Taranaki. Her first book of short fiction, Ruin, was published in 2023 with Te Herenga Waka University Press and won the Hubert Church Best First Book of Fiction at the 2024 Ockh

Kerrin is our final writer-in-residence for the year.  She has published five collections of poetry (all with Te Herenga Waka University Press, Wellington, NZ) with the latest Hoof, published October 2023. She has also had poems published in a wide range of journals both in NZ and overseas including

Kerry is an Australian-born writer who moved to New Zealand in late 2012 and now calls Aotearoa home. She is based in Te Tauihu, the top of the South Island, where she has been the curator of the Nelson Arts Festival’s literary programme since 2018.Kerry has a MA in Creative Writing from Victoria

Isla (Te Āti Haunui a-Pāpārangi, Uenuku) is a te reo Māori teacher and kaituhi from Ōtautahi.Her debut collection of poetry, Talia, was released in May 2023 by Dead Bird Books, and was shortlisted for the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2024.Her wo

Jason (Ngāpuhi) is an author, epidemiologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago (Wellington campus). He has been a public health researcher for the past 15 years, and is the director of the Cancer and Chronic Conditions (C3) Research Group.  Jason’s

Michelle is an award-winning writer and journalist from Te Whanganui-a-Tara. She was the winner of the 2023 Fiction Prize from the International Institute of Modern Letters. Her journalism has appeared in Aotearoa and internationally, including in The Guardian, Stuff, New Zealand Geographic, The Mel

Ashlee (Ngāti Awa, Te Arawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) is a writer of creative fiction and non-fiction, a health coach, educator and community volunteer.  She holds a Master of Creative Writing and has published short stories in a number of collections.Ashlee is a busy mama who combines her skills and pas

Jack (Ngāti Rangi) is a queer short fiction writer who currently lives in Te-Whanganui-a-Tara. His debut flash fiction collection Ten Acceptable Acts of Arson and other very short stories was published in 2021 by Canterbury University Press. This manuscript won the 2020 Wallace Foundation Prize and

Our 10th writer-in-residence for the year, Hannah is a Wellington-based writer who completed her Masters in Creative Writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters in 2024. She has previously been a 2020 NZSA Youth Mentorship Award recipient, the 2021 winner of the Maurice Gee Prize in Chi

Andrea (Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa, Ngati Pakeha ) is the author of The Vanishing Point (Ultimo Press, 2023) a historical fiction novel exploring the enduring potency of a famous painting: artist Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas (1656). She co-authored (with Priscilla Pitts) Undreamed of: 50 Years of the Fr