Annelies Judson is a children’s poet and writer based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Since winning a poetry competition in 2023, she has spent a lot more time writing, and probably not enough time sleeping. She writes articles and book reviews for The Sapling and has had poems published in online magazines. In 2024, she won the Storylines Joy Cowley Award for her manuscript Turkey Hurly-Burly. Annelies has many hobbies and interests, but writing is the only one she really takes seriously. She loves cooking, cricket and her kids (not in that order). Annelies used to ride a motorbike, play the flute and do gymnastics, though not all at the same time. She also has alopecia, but that’s neither hair nor there.

Nikki Slade Robinson is a graduate of Wellington Polytechnic’s Diploma of Visual Communication Design (Illustration) course. Nikki has illustrated many children’s books, as well as having written and illustrated her own, including the award-winning The Little Kiwi's Matariki. Nikki lives in Opotiki with her husband and their two daughters.