Meet Our Authors
This page gives a brief introduction to member authors in the Top of the South, arranged in alphabetical order. To find more information on the member and their books click on the author's name.
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Jeanette is the author of three books, recounting her life as an 'islomaniac' - i.e. loving (and living on) islands. The Lighthouse Keepers Wife was published by Cape Catley in 2001, The Lighthouse Children’s Mother in 2007, and The Price of Bacon in 2011.
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After a career in which he wrote extensively on technical topics, Garrick has shifted his attention to rcreative writing. What Happened to Haystacks & Horses? is a hybrid fiction/fact book about changes in our rural life, while Farmer Bill is a fictional autobiography. His current focus is on short stories of which he has published three collections to date.
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Geographer and environmental scientists, turned novelist and occasional poet, David has published five novels and a collection of poetry to date. His novels have been long-listed for the Michael Gifkins Award and short-listed for the NZ Booklovers Award, and he has won prizes both locally and internationally for his poetry.
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Widely recognised for her skills as a flax-weaver, Ali gives workshops on the craft, runs a website on flax-weaving for both beginners and fellow experts, and has written four guides to flax-weaving,
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Over a span of thirty-plus years, John has written and produced for all forms of media: print, radio, jingles, TV, video, short film, exhibition marketing and web content. Most recently, he was arts writer for Wild Tomato magazine, a freelance PR journalist, and a reviewer for Theatreview. Currently his main role is in creative direction and writing for ad agencies and personal clients.
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Deborah is a freelance nature, science and well-being writer with a background in biomedical science. Her writing has included science communication and regulatory documents, newsletters, blogs, monographs and articles, book reviews, historical, science, nature and well-being reports, research reports, online teaching material and e-books (USA).
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John has written three biographical books about members of his family. Porters In My Past tells of his great grandfather and two brothers who came to New Zealand in the 1850s. Accidental Immigrants: they sailed for India, but settled in New Zealand is the story of his great-great-grandfather Thomas Powell. His latest book, The Audrey Story: from backcountry to Beehive and beyond, recounts the story of his late wife Audrey, her life and career.
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Colin writes the Captain Stinky and Sailor Puss series of books for children aged 3-8 years. They are amusing and educational with a nautical theme, a moral in each story and a quiz at the end. The object is to write fictitious tales interspersed with facts about old sailing ships, sea fish and birds. A Chuckle and Learn series.
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A compulsive diarist, Judy’ has been writing Morning Pages for over twenty-five years, and has written a number of articles for magazines and newspapers. She also occasionally writes poems. After attending writing courses at Otago University she wrote a memoir, Off the Hook, recounting the story of her nomadic and unpredictable life, which was published in 2020.
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Bruce is the author of the biography Walking with James Hogg, reflecting both on his ancestor’s journeys through the Highlands and Islands from 1802 and his own own misadventures in following them.
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Jeanette is a picture book creator. Living on the West Coast of the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand, she has developed a great love of all things wild Her books reflect an environment that is interdependent , interrelated and alive with wonder.
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The author of six non-fiction books and a contributor to several anthologies, Katherine Palmer Gordon writes about contemporary issues both serious and light-hearted. Much of her writing focuses on indigenous people and their experiences in the modern world. Her most recent book, This Place Is Who We Are won the Jeanne Clarke Award, was short-listed for the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Book Prize, and was runner-up for the BC Historical Writing Award.
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With a background in in Art History and education, Elizabeth has a passion to help women and girls understand and appreciate the intelligence of the female body, and how it connects us to the cycles of the natural world. These are themes in her first novel, The Well of Truth - a story that reflects her love of art, travel, mythology, goddess traditions, trees, and the moon.
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Freelance journalist, historian and novelist, Carolyn is the author of Great Expectations: the Colonisation of Buller, an account of the nineteenth centiry settlement of the Buller region, and The Floating Basin, a small-town Gothic story set against the background of a murder inquiry.
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Karen Heslop grew up in Auckland but settled in Nelson after she had completed her Dentistry degree. Having always loved reading, Karen developed a desire to create and write, starting with short stories and poetry and eventually working her way to her first novel, The Terrible and Great Year of Molly Evans, which was published in 2017.
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Born in Christchurch, Julie is a Picton-based writer. Her book Katherine Mansfield in Picton was published in 2000 and she has also compiled a Chronology of Picton and Queen Charlotte Sound (Volume 1 to 2009). She co-edited a poetry anthology, Reflections, and edited Impressions: Picton Poets an Anthology, while several of her own poems have been published in anthologies.
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Jacquelyn is an author, artist and educator whose writing
focuses on the relationship between our spirituality and Nature. She wrote and illustrated The Children of Gaia, an eco-spiritual novel on the problems facing the forests of the world and This World of Echoes: A Divine Guide to Being Human. Her latest book, DEVA: Our Relationship with the Subtle World was shortlisted for the Ashton Wylie Unpublished Manuscript Awards. |
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Belgian by birth but now resident in the Nelson area, Christine has published four novels: A Can of Sunshine (2013), Caging Skies (2019), Primordial Soup (2020) and In Amber’s Wake (2022). Her books have been translated in seventeen languages and adapted to theatre and screen. A Can of Sunshine was selected as one of the ‘Best Books of the Year 2013’ by the NZ Herald.
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Jan has long written fiction, alongside her life as a clinical psychologist and mother. After taking early retirement, she dedicated herself to writing and completed a novel, Butterfly Soup and a self-help book for depression sufferers, Harnessing Hope. Her two most recent works are reflective studies on life and coping with its problems.
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A writer and poet based in Blenheim, Carol has wide experience in writing for business and policy, but now dedicates herself to creative writing, including short-stories and poetry. She has been published in several local and international magazines and anthologies and been a finalist in several writing competitions.
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As well as being a published poet, Helen is the author of the bestselling ‘Grandma’ picture books, about a down to earth great-grandma whose special brand of marmalade has helped everyone from policemen in a faint, to the All Blacks, Santa’s reindeer and the guards at Buckingham Palace. In 2018, Grandma Joins the All Blacks was listed in Booksellers choice twenty bestsellers of the decade.
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One-time secondary school teacher in England, writer in residence for a theatre company in Ireland, and freelance editor, Belinda is the creator of the Silvana Chronicles - a three-book fantasy set in a magical world. She has also written a children’s book, A Handful of Eggs, and several short stories
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Des Molloy is author of five books recounting his travels and adventures in various parts of the world, on his motorbike: The Big Sit (around Australia), The Ernie Diaries (from London to Iran), Zen and the Last Hurrah (back country America), The Lat Hurrah (Beijing to Arnhem) and No One Said it would be Easy (youthful follies in America). All are published through his publishing collective, Kahuku, which prides itself in the quality of its books.
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Born in Edinburgh (Fraser clan), raised in England, Jaclyn attended Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, studying English and Modern History. She writes in three genres - contemporary women's fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction and has begun a suspense thriller series. She writes about strong women who inspire her.
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Born in Donetsk, Ukraine, Julia is a vegetarian, ASMR artist, biologist and a writer. She has published several scientific papers, and in 2022 wrote her first children's book, Lada Between Two Worlds - a fantasy aimed at middle grade children, which focuses on animal rights. She also runs a popular YouTube channel featuring Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) videos to help in relaxation.
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Born in Malawi, Annabel has been a journalist, academic and writer. Publications include academic papers and conference presentations and, most recently, Constance Barnicoat: A Cool Head and a Sharp Pen - the biography of a lesser known Nelson woman who became a ground breaker both as a journalist and as a mountaineer.
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Wendy
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Wendy writes youth and adult fantasy (as Wendy Scott), children’s novels (as WJ Scott) and is currently branching into romance (under the name Wendy Jayne). She was a winner in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2015 and silver medalist in the 2016 Readers' Favorite Book Award. She also offers a book review service (see Promotion & Publicity in Writing Services).
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Kate is an indie author, primarily a novelist. Her fantasy Danton Bay urban-fantasy trilogy was published in 2021 and 2022. Her short stories have been published in the Down Under Fantasy Anthology, and in 2020 she co-wrote her first short play, St Brigid’s Eve, which won the Best Newcomers award at the 2020 Nelson Fringe Festival.
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Hayley is a Blenheim author and poet. Writing for the mass market, she She was twice listed as a top ten best writer for Momaya Press and was a triple Honoree of the University of Maine at Machias. Since switching to a focus on she now focuses on fantasy, JAFF, poetry and literary short stories she has twice been a winner of the Proverse International Supplementary Prize,
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Karen Stade is a researcher and writer of Nelson history, with more than 30 years of professional writing experience. She has written several social histories of Nelson locations and people, including accounts of Nayland College, Nelson's Italian community and thew Cathedral steps. Driven by the Wind: the profile of Captain Henry Rose (published 2019) is the story of a major figure in Nelson's early history.
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After spending six years living and working in the icy wilderness of bush Alaska, Emma moved to the balmier orchards and vineyards of Tasman, and now spends her time writing and giving talks about her experiences. From these talks her first book Walking on Ice gradually emerged, to be followed two years later by the sequel, Nesting on the Nushagak and two years after that the last book in the series, Dancing on the Tundra.
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A storyteller from a young age, Chris started off writing non-fiction and short stories and won the Elyne Mitchell Writing Award (Short Stories), and has been a judge for the competition since 2013. Her recently completed novel, For Reasons of their Own, won the Best First Novel category in the 2021 Ngaio Marsh Awards.
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Fiona Summerfield is a freelance writer with a journalism and science background. Her published fiction work has included flash fiction and short stories and she was short listed for the Kobo/NZ Authors E-Publishing Prize and was a recipient of the New Zealand Society of Authors Complete Manuscript Assessment Programme.
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Chris has been a lifelong reader and creator. Born in small-town Canterbury, she has explored many facets of creating and exhibiting in fibre and textiles, before adding writing to her repertoire. She currently serves as Treasurer of the Top of the South committee.
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Colin is the author of the 382-page illustrated coffee table book, Body, Mind and Spirit, recounting the 150-year history of the YMCA in New Zealand; and was a contributing author to The Insight Travel Guide to New Zealand
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Iona (Waitaha/Kāi Tahu/Pākehā) is a widely poet whose work has been anthologised internationally. She is the author of three collections of poetry and in 2022 completed A Counter of Moons, a creative non-fiction book addressing the complexities of suicide and bereavement. The following year, she founded Elixir & Star Press, a dedicated space for the expression of grief in Aotearoa.
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Author of contemporary and speculative fiction novels, flash fiction and short stories, Angela has been long-listed for the Michael Gifkins Literary Prize and a finalist in the Takahē Short Story Competition. She is currently working on three novels exploring the forgotten victims of crimes.
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