Authors

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Sereana Naepi (Fijian, Pākehā) is an associate professor in sociology at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland. With a research focus on equity in higher education, Indigenous research methodologies, and the experiences of Pacific peoples, Māori and early career researchers in academia, she is committed to addressing systemic barriers to success in universities and advocating for institutional change. Her work explores the impact of neoliberalism on education and the need for Indigenous knowledge systems to be recognised within academic spaces. Sereana has co-authored research on decolonising universities and improving pathways for underrepresented scholars. She is a recipient of the Rutherford Discovery Fellowship and Spencer Education grants. Through her scholarship and advocacy, she contributes to rethinking how education serves diverse communities, challenging traditional structures to create more just and inclusive learning environments for future generations.

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A former children's librarian, Bill Nagelkerke has written short stories, poems, plays and books for all ages, as well as translating other people's books from Dutch into English, and he is a winner of the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal and Lecture Award. The Ghosts on the Hill (2020) was a Storylines Notable Book and joint winner of the 2021 Storylines What Now Kids' Pick Award.

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Karen Nairn (University of Otago) is based in Otepoti/Dunedin. She draws on her geography and education background to engage in interdisciplinary research on young people. The activism project builds on earlier research with young people who grew up during New Zealand's economic reforms and explored their post-high school paths in the book 'Children of Rogernomics: A neoliberal generation leaves school'. Judith Siglo (University of Otago) has a multidisciplinary background and her research focuses on children, young people, and family well-being particularly from a rights perspective. She also has an interest in research methodologies, particularly qualitative and mixed methods research. She co-authored 'Children of Rogernomics: A neoliberal generation leaves school'. Carisa R. Showden (University of Auckland) is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work traverses feminist political and social theory, gender and politics, and law and society scholarship. She is the author of 'Choices Women Make: Agency in Domestic Violence, Assisted Reproduction, and Sex Work' (Minnesota); and co-author of 'Youth Who Trade Sex in the U.S.: Intersectionality, Agency, Vulnerability' (Temple). Kyle R. Matthews is a PhD candidate at the University of Otago, researching youth activism and radicalism in Aotearoa. His thesis explores how activist strategies and tactics are shaped by state, state actors, public discourses, and activist groups' dynamics. He completed his Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies, researching New Zealand peace histories and nonviolence theory. Joanna Kidman (Ngati Maniapoto, Ngati Raukawa) is Professor of Maori education at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington. Her research focuses on the politics of indigeneity, Maori youth and settler-colonial nationhood. She has worked extensively in Maori communities impacted by the New Zealand Wars and is co-author of 'Fragments from a Contested Past: Remembrance, Denial and New Zealand History (BWB).

Rebecca Nash lives in Lyttelton with a small child, a dog, a cat and many non-venomous spiders in the corners of rooms. She has an MA in English from the University of Canterbury, an MA in Creative Writing from Victoria University's International Institute of Modern Letters, and currently teaches creative writing at the University of Canterbury. She has previously published her poems in takahe, Minarets and Turbine, and on a Phantom Billstickers poster. She and her little brother, Dan, shared the same imaginative space as children, and she knew he would instinctively understand the spooky and magical undertones of Wilbur's Walk.

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Author, Advocate and Survivor: Gloria Masters is the woman behind the Global hand signal for under 16's, released in June, to resource and protect children from abuse. She is also the founder of Handing the Shame Back foundation, a charity dedicated to adult survivors of child sexual abuse. She is the host of the #1 Trauma Podcast in NZ, and played through YouTube and podcast channels everywhere, (also called Handing the Shame Back), presenting interviews and resources designed exclusively for survivors. Her memoir 'On Angels Wings' - My Flight from Trauma to Grace, details sixteen years of unparalleled CSA and trauma, which is why she does the work she does. Flightpath to Healing, her second book is an experiential guide for survivors to use. Her third book Keeping kids Safe, a Roadmap for teachers parents and others, is an informational guide on how to keep kids safe from abuse and trafficking. She runs events, does public speaking, and believes that all things are possible. Her purpose in life is to Help others, by shining light onto this darkness through love and humility.

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Angela is a second-generation New Zealander of Italian heritage. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand. Her life hasn't been perfect. She's walked through difficult seasons - some painful, some unexpected, and some she knows God would never have chosen for her. For many years Angela tried doing life her own way, being fully self-reliant. But through every high and low, one truth has become unshakable: that with God you can get through anything. Rather than her own efforts, it has been the love of God, and His grace and mercy, that have sustained her.