Authors

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Alesha Bilbrough-Collins (The Lion) is a chef who has worked across the hospitality industry, including stints for Ottolenghi and Ramsay Holdings in London. Returning to New Zealand, Alesha and husband John (The Bear) opened BearLion Foods, which has had various incarnations, and these days operates as a sustainable and organic food, catering and private chef business based in Upper Moutere, Tasman.

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A Duffy Books in Homes role model since 2014, author Judi Billcliff spends a lot of time visiting schools throughout New Zealand delighting students (and teachers) with her poetry performances. Judi is the author of the popular 'Granny' series of poetry books and has written numerous poetry and drama sources for teachers. Judi lives and works from her home in Hamilton. Deborah Hinde has brought many picture book manuscripts to life with her gorgeous illustrations. Titles she's illustrated include the best seller Moo and Moo and the little Calf too (Allen&Unwin, 2016) and The Spaghetti Giraffe (Flat Bed Press, 2017) a Storylines Notable Book 2018, along with her own independently published titles Hare and Hollybee Hope wants a Prickly Coat. Deborah lives and works from her home-based studio in rural Waikato.

No biography

Greg Billington is a New Zealander who is the author of several novels. He has a lifetime of experience in business and was co-founder of an international skin care company. He has also worked briefly, in government.

Victor Billot was born in Dunedin in 1972. He has worked in communications, publishing and the maritime industry. In 2020 he was commissioned by the Newsroom website to write a series of political satires in verse. His poems have been displayed in the Reykjavik City Hall and in Antarctica.

In a career spanning 35 years, Eugene Bingham (Pakeha, Ngapuhi) has won multiple awards as one of Aotearoa's most respected investigative journalists, reporting and producing news and current affairs across newspapers, television, digital and podcast platforms. Memorable projects include the Teina Pora miscarriage of justice case, and investigative documentaries

Janet Bingham grew up in Scotland, and studied fashion design at Edinburgh College of Art. She has worked in the jeans industry since the early 1980s, designing for brands such as Lee and Lee Cooper Jeans. In 1997 she founded Bear Brothers specializing in denim household textiles, which became a best seller for iconic design retailer The Conran Shop. After emigrating to New Zealand in 2007 with her two sons, she created mens and womens denim ranges for various companies, and introduced skinny jeans to the Kiwi market. Three years ago the bears came out of hibernation and Janet relaunched the Bear Brothers brand merging her passions for household textiles and clothing, all of course, crafted from denim. In September 2019, Janet opened her first denim store in Devonport, Auckland. She has neither written nor illustrated a book before, but decided as with most things in her life - to give it a go.

Judith Binney, DNZM, FRSNZ, was the author of many award-winning histories, including Redemption Songs: A Life of Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki (1995) and Encircled Lands: Te Urewera 1820-1921 (2009). Her work will appear also in Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History (forthcoming, 2012). Photographer Gillian Chaplin is a director of the Melbourne based Magian Design Studio, specialising in exhibition design around the world. After graduating from Auckland University in languages and anthropology, Craig Wallace has managed literacy and English language programmes in the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.