Authors

Born in North Canterbury in 1932, Derek Quigley

Sarah Quigley was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. She is a novelist, critic, non-fiction writer, poet, and columnist. She has a DPhil in Literature from the University of Oxford and is a graduate of Bill Manhire's creative writing course. In 1998, she won the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship. Her short stories and poetry have been widely broadcast and published, and she has won many prizes, including the Sunday Star-Times Short Story Award and the Commonwealth Pacific Rim Short Story Award. Her publications include novels, short fiction, a creative writing manual and poetry collections, many of which have sold internationally. Reviewing her novel Fifty Days, The Observer wrote, 'Sensual, monstrous and bewitching . . . Quigley's prose imparts constant shocks of lyricism, intensity and acuity.' Her second novel, Shot, was long-listed for the 2005 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and her third novel, Fifty Days, saw her featured in Waterstones UK 20 Faces of the Future. In 2000 she won the inaugural Creative New Zealand Berlin Residency. Since then she has divided her time between New Zealand and Berlin. Her novel The Conductor, which is set during the siege of Leningrad, was the highest selling adult fiction title in New Zealand in 2011, remaining at number one for 20 weeks. Subsequently it won the Booksellers Choice Award and was long-listed for the 2012 International IMPAC Award and was shortlisted for the Prix Femina in France. More about Quigley's work can be found on her website- www.sarahvquigley.com. The New Zealand Herald wrote of The Conductor- 'This extraordinary novel is a symphony on the power of love - the love of music, home, family, city, and Quigley's love of writing. Each sentence carries the weight of these loves, but each sentence is characterised by an unexpected moving lightness of being. A triumph on every level ...' A review in The Observer read- 'The Conductor reads like a proper up-all-night page-turner, but it also conveys the extraordinary life-saving properties of music, and hope.' The novel was chosen by The Observer as one of its top picks for 2012, and has been sold into 10 different countries.

Kat Quin is a best-selling and award-winning author, illustrator and designer from the Waikato. The Kuwi and Friends Maori Picture Dictionary was inspired by her children, who have been passionately learning te reo Maori at school. Her hope is that this series will provide an accessible and practical way to help whanau (family members) feel confident to use more Maori words in the home. Kat first worked with Pania Papa at the age of eighteen, when she was entrusted with the illustration of Maori language resources for Te Ara Reo Maori, developed by Takatu Associates Ltd. Over twenty years on, they still work closely together on various educational projects. Pania Papa is an acclaimed Maori language consultant and advocate who has spent the past three decades devoted to the teaching and learning of te reo Maori. After ten years of teaching te reo at Waikato University, Pania began to create Maori language resources and learning programmes through Takatu Associates Ltd. Maori TV viewers can watch Pania, on AKO and Opaki. Recently, Pania and fellow trustees launched Kotahi Rau Pukapuka, a charitable project aiming to release 100 books in te reo over the next decade. Pania translated all of the te reo Maori in this pukapuka (book), as well as advising and editing.

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Max Quinn is a wildlife filmmaker with over 50 years of experience in television production. He has filmed in areas from Antarctica to Mexico; Taiwan to Tibet, for broadcasters such as Discovery Channel and National Geographic. Now ‘retired’, he continues to do freelance projects around the globe.

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Born 1952 in New Zealand. Mother, Grandmother, Great Grand mother, Singer songwriter, performer. Artist, Writer, Animal advocate. Lover of nature. Lives in a forest setting in South Waikato.

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Danni Rae has been working with animals for over 15 years as a zookeeper, wildlife guide and conservationist.