This page gives a brief introduction to member authors in the Top of the South with surnames beginning with Q-Z. To find more information on the member and their writing click on the author's name.
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While living in Thailand in a small Khmer-speaking village Tarmo wrote articles about Thai life for in-flight magazines and produced a collection of short stories: Vapour Trails – Tales from Rural Thailand. Since moving to New Zealand in 2001 he has written current affairs articles and newspaper columns for publications in both Finland and New Zealand.
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Shannon mainly writes short stories and flash fiction, for which she has won numerous awards including the Pushcart Prize in 2020, the Fish Short Story Prize (2022), Cuirt New Writing Prize (2019), Reflex Fiction (2017), and Flash500 (2019). Her writing has been published on-line and in print in anthologies and magazines across the world.
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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 writes youth and adult fantasy (as Wendy Scott) and 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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Charlotte Squire is a Golden Bay based writer who specialises writing memoirs, life story and histories for clients, and teaching people to write their own. A former journalist, Charlotte loves writing extraordinary stories about ordinary people.
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Kate is an indie author, primarily a novelist. Her '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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Karen Stade is a researcher and writer of Nelson history, with over 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 the 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 Alaska, Emma moved to the balmier climes of Tasman, and now spends her time writing and giving talks about her experiences. From these experiences a trilogy emerged, starting with Walking on Ice, then two years later the sequel, Nesting on the Nushagak, and two years after that 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) - for which he has since been a judge. 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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W F Stubbs is the author of two novels and two collections of poetry and prose. The Tasman Journey, his first poetry collection (reissued in 2024) reflects on his life living in a van by the Motueka River and finding his true self. His novels explore personal and moral dilemmas in tight-knit communities. His writing is about life in the raw.
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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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Kerry is an author, freelance journalist and podcast host/producer. Her personal essays have appeared in several anthologies, including Otherhood: Essays on being childfree, childless and child adjacent (MUP 2024), A Liminal Gathering (Elixir & Star Press 2023), and Headlands: New Stories of Anxiety (VUP 2018). Her feature articles and profiles have been published in New Zealand Geographic, NZ Listener, North & South, The Spinoff, Stuff/Nelson Mail and the Byron Echo. She is the curator of the Nelson Arts Festival's literary programme, Pukapuka Talks.
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Sylvan is a writer based in Ruby Bay. His fiction and essays have been published in New Zealand and the USA. He has an MA in Creative Writing from the IIML at Victoria University and an MFA from the University of Michigan. In 2020 he was awarded the Todd New Writer's Bursary.
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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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Lucy began writing stories as a child. Since then she's been a marine biologist, scientific editor, skiing instructor and track guide. She now works as Media Co-ordinator for Wilsons Abel Tasman, mainly writing brochures, media releases, tourism award entries and websites. She also writes short stories, and in 2020 won second place in the Page & Blackmore Short Story Competition.
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Poet, essayist, storyteller and editor, Iona holds a Masters in Creative Writing (AUT). She is a committee member with NZSA Top of the South, and Southern Districts Representative with NZSA National Board. In 2022, she was awarded the CLNZ/NZSA Writers' Award for A Counter of Moons, published with Steele Roberts Aotearoa in 2025.
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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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