Authors

Patricia Bell is an editor, proofreader, and published writer, based in Auckland. She has had her work (short stories, poems, and non-fiction articles) published in magazines, anthologies, and literary journals, and her fiction has twice been highly commended in national competitions. 'The Library of Unfinished Business' is her first novel.

No biography

No biography

No biography

Mike Bellamy is a New Zealand author and earthworks contractor who lives in Taupo, New Zealand. His first book, Tough Country, was about the lives of loggers, hunters, scrub-cutters, fencers and bushmen in the New Zealand hinterland. Bellamy also spent 30 years in the mining country of Western Australia, which is the setting for his second book of yarns, Tough Outback.

No biography

No biography

Samantha Beneke is a South African-born writer who now calls New Zealand home. With a background in Media & Communications, she has spent her career crafting compelling narratives across multiple platforms, from digital marketing campaigns to literary publications.

No biography

Alie Benge was born in Auckland in 1989. She spent her early childhood in Ethiopia with her Christian missionary family, and from 1999 to 2012 lived in Australia, where she served in the army. Alie won the Landfall Essay Competition in 2017, and in 2018 gained an MA in Creative Writing from the Institute of Modern Letters at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington. Her work has been published in The Spinoff, Takahē Turbine | Kapohau and elsewhere. Ithaca is her first book.

Harvey Benge (1944–2019) was a prolific photographer and committed maker of photobooks, the first being Four Parts Religion, Six Parts Sin published in 1993 by PhotoForum. Working between Auckland and Paris he went on to publish at least 75 other titles, often in the form of limited edition photobooks. Publishers included Dewi Lewis in the UK, Kehrer Verlag in Germany and Super Labo in Japan, as well as Benge's own imprint FAQEDITIONS. His photographs explore the anthropology of cities, the nature of impermanence and the small moments of everyday life. Benge’s work, which became increasingly autobiographical, sought to always make the viewer question what is overlooked or unseen. Throughout Benge’s life he collaborated with writers, composers and other international photographers, such as Daido Moriyama, to create works that crossed multiple mediums. Jon Carapiet is of Anglo-Armenian heritage and grew up in England, moving to New Zealand in 1992. His career includes a wide range of experience in photography, commercial market research, community advocacy, writing and broadcasting. Jon's work explores humanitarian and global themes and the impact of technology. Photo-installations include Headlines (1994), istory (1995), Forgivenness (1998), STOMP (2017) and Rain Fade (2019). Lloyd Jones is a Wellington-based writer, his novels include The Book of Fame, Mister Pip, Hand Me Down World, and The Cage. He has written short stories and a memoir 'A History of Silence.' He is a NZ Arts Laureate and recipient of an honorary doctorate of Literature (Victoria University) and the PM's Prize for Fiction. He is a winner of the Commonwealth Prize for Fiction. Mister Pip was also shortlisted for the Booker. His novel Hand Me Down World was shortlisted for the Berlin International Prize for Fiction. He has collaborated with many artists and photographers. Haru Sameshima is a photographer, artist, image editor, publisher, and occasional writer on photography. Bold Centuries: a photographic history album (Rim Books, 2009), and the photo essay ‘The Shopping Mall as a place of contemplation’, published in New Zealand – By the Way: Immigrant photographers & Photographs of Immigrants (Jenner Zimmermann 1996) best represent his interest in photography as a means of making sense of his travels. Stu Sontier was born in England, and has lived in New Zealand since the age of 8. He has worked with traditional silver gelatin printing in an extended documentary tradition and has been an active committee member of PhotoForum for many years. Following a break which included raising his son and reassessing the personal importance of photography, he now works in a more conceptual way, exploring interests in photographic materiality, failing technology and compromised ecologies.