Authors

The concept of children’s books to inspire a connection with nature is the latest brainchild of a local author, Lynn Kirkland. Well known as the founder of the Herb Farm in rural Manawatu, Lynn’s latest inspiration is writing children’s books which teach children about herbs in a fun engaging way. Lynn’s background as a teacher, herbalist and author as well as a grandmother gives her the ideal credentials to be now producing books to connect children with the healing powers of herbs.

Sir John Kirwan, one of the most devastating wingers that world rugby has ever seen, was an All Black from 1984 to 1994. He went on to coach of the Italian and Japanese national rugby teams, as well as the Auckland-based Super Rugby franchise The Blues. Following his playing career, JK became an advocate for depression awareness in New Zealand, fronting a high-profile TV campaign and authoring the bestselling memoir All Blacks Don't Cry. He was knighted in 2012 for his services to mental health.

Mary Kisler MNZM worked for 21 years at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, latterly as Senior Curator, Mackelvie Collection, International Art. In 2016, she was Craig Hugh Smyth Fellow at the Harvard Centre for Renaissance Art, Villa I Tatti, Florence, researching Italian works held in New Zealand Public Collections. Her previous publications include Angels & Aristocrats: Early European art in New Zealand public collections (Godwit, 2010); Finding Frances Hodgkins (Massey University Press, 2019), and as contributing author and coeditor with Catherine Hammond, Frances Hodgkins - European Journeys (Auckland University Press in Association with Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, 2019 and Thames and Hudson, 2019). Kisler also helped to create www.completefranceshodgkins.com.

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Megan Kitching was born in Tāmaki Makarau Auckland and now lives in Ōtepoti Dunedin. She holds a PhD in English Literature from Queen Mary University, London, looking at the influence of the natural sciences on eighteenth-century poetry. She has taught English and creative writing in the UK and at the University of Otago. Her poetry has appeared in The Frogmore Papers (UK), takahē, Poetry New Zealand, and Landfall. “The horses,” published in takahē 95, was nominated for Best Small Fictions 2020. In 2021, she was the inaugural Caselberg Trust Elizabeth Brooke-Carr Emerging Writer Resident. At the Point of Seeing is her debut collection.

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Author: Johanna Klein is writing stories for children after a career as an architect and raising five children. She lives by the sea in New Zealand.

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Dr Catherine Knight is the award-winning author of four previous books: Beyond Manapouri: 50 years of environmental politics in New Zealand (Canterbury University Press, 2018), Wildbore: A photographic legacy (Totara Press, 2018), New Zealand's Rivers: An environmental history (Canterbury University Press, 2016) and Ravaged Beauty: An environmental history of the Manawatu (Dunmore Press, 2014). In addition to her work as an environmental historian, Catherine is a policy and communications consultant and lives with her family on a farmlet in the Manawatu.

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