Our Authors

We work with the best people to produce the best titles.

Doina Roman is an award-winning Romanian author and businesswoman. She has previously worked for the REUTERS International Press Agency. In 2020 she founded the literary magazine Utopiqa, of which she is still the editor-in-chief.

Her first novel The Threshold Volume 1 was published in 2014 by Romanian publishing house Tracus Arte. It was followed by The Threshold Volume 2: Witness Shadow and The Threshold Volume 3: Last Sent Oserp. In 2017 she released her latest novel Too Many Gods for a Desert (Paralela 45 Publishing House).

She has recived several awards for her work, including:

• 2015 RomCon Romanian National Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention - Award for the best debut (Threshold, Vol 1)

• 2017 CHRISALIDE Prize European Society of Science - Fiction (The Threshold Series)

• Colin Award 2017 for the best book in the category, new wired, gothic, horror, crime ”(The Threshold Series)

• 2018 RomCon Romanian National Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention - Award for the best novel of the year (Too Many Gods for a Desert)

• 2022 First prize in the Israeli Journal, Saga’s  Short Prose Competition.

Nicholas Sheppard grew up in the rural South Island, then moved to Auckland. He has worked as a freelance journalist for local newspapers such as The Herald and The Dominion Post, and magazines, such as Remix; and has written for prominent American news and cultural websites, such as The Federalist, Huffington Post, Politico, and The Daily Beast. He has taught at a private music school, and currently teaches English. Nick's debut novel is Broken Play, about which he says following:

‘There is a huge cultural and historical symmetry: throughout the country’s history, homosexuality has represented the impermissible, illicit anti-societal furthest fringe; and the All Blacks the very centre, the ideal of New Zealand identity and masculinity. The novel explores the individual who represents the huge, symmetrical culmination for the queer community – there is no greater symbol of resolution and acceptance; that is why the notion has such a power, even if most people only feel that latently. The protagonist has the most extremes in his identity of virtually any New Zealand fictional character imaginable. The book is, at its heart, an exploration of contemporary New Zealand culture and masculinity. Where are the boundaries, the constants, the changes in social mores? As an author, I’ve lived in New Zealand my whole life, and I still struggle with notions of what being a New Zealander means; and this novel uses the conceit of its main character to explore modern New Zealand from a dozen different angles.’ 

Radio New Zealand interview

NZ Booklovers interview

Ann Glamuzina is a former lawyer who now writes full-time. Her debut novel, Rich Man Road, is based partly on the real-life story of her Croatian family, and spent several weeks on the NZ Fiction Bestseller List. Ann is a co-author of The Bitter Sweet Philosophies and is currently working on her second novel, Little Swallow. She lives in Auckland.

Karen Breen is the author of Sleep Sister and co-authored The Bitter Sweet Philosophies. She is a former journalist, television producer/director and documentary maker. Born and educated in Auckland, she lived for many years in London where she made programmes for: Channel 4, The BBC, Sky and Channel 5. She is currently working on her second novel.

Stephen Leaton is the author of Vivienne’s Blog. His second novel, Confessions of an Ape (The Several Minds of Richard) and an anthology of short stories and poetry,  Disturbing Thoughts, are both due to be released next year. Leaton is also a co-writer of The Bitter Sweet Philosophies. A lawyer with some thirty years’ experience, he has published many articles in newspapers and magazines and holds various legal and educational degrees and professional qualifications, as well as a PhD in Creative Writing. His family consists of his wife, two children and two dogs - three of which are also lawyers. 

Tim Heath is an MC at Poetry Live and has won a number of major Auckland Poetry Slams, including Poetry Idol and Going West. He recently performed in the three-man show, The Almost Dead Poets’ Society. Time for these activities is happily compromised by his eight grandchildren, reading, cooking, gardening, ocean sailing, watching cricket and dreaming. He is a retired teacher and holds a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing.

Katie Henderson’s short stories have appeared in journals, collections and been broadcast on radio. Her writing prizes include the BNZ Katherine Mansfield Novice Award, the Commonwealth Broadcasting Prize for Australasia, the Fish International Short Story Prize, and the NZ Royal Society Manhire Prize for Creative Science Writing. She is a script consultant for the screenplay, Manhunt, which is currently under development with the NZ Film Commission.

Judith White is the author of two novels – The Elusive Language of Ducks and Across the Dreaming Night (Random House NZ) – and a collection of short stories, Visiting Ghosts. She is also a member of the writing collective, KK Jart, which wrote The Bitter Sweet Philosophies. Her stories have been broadcast by Radio New Zealand, and widely published in anthologies. She has been facilitating creative writing courses for over two decades.

Nick Fedaeff is an award-winning artist whose work is featured in The Bitter Sweet Philosophies. His paintings are exhibited in galleries in New Zealand, Australia, Europe, Japan and The United States. Nick was born in Russia but now travels the world, returning whenever he can to Auckland. He is also an accomplished musician, composer and writer.

Tyl von Randow's Shanghai childhood spanned the Japanese occupation of China, the post-war period of American rule and the Red Army's eventual triumph. His family moved to New Zealand when he was fourteen. His memoir of this dramatic time, Red Dust Over Shanghai, will be published in July 2016. A former architect, Tyl has received awards for his work in both NZ and the UK. He is also an actor and has worked in theatre and film. He lives at Bethells Beach in the Waitakare Ranges.

Sue Younger has been a television documentary maker for twenty-five years. Her films have won several awards, including Best Documentary in the Film and Television Awards (Learning New Stuff) and a Media Peace Prize (Autism - Life Among Strangers). In 2014, she won the North and South short short story prize with her story, Ninja, and was a finalist in the Kobo Prize, 2014. Sue currently lives in Melbourne with her son and husband. Days are Like Grass is her debut novel. 

KK Jaart is a collective of writers who come and go from the group. They share a love of great literature, humour and beautiful ideas. Bittersweet Philosophies was the work of these wonderful people: Nick Fedaeff (the artist); Karen Breen; Ann Glamuzina; Stephen Leaton; Tim Heath; Katie Henderson; Judith White.

V O Blum’s first three works of fiction were published in the US: Equator (regarding an expatriate sexual triangle in West Africa plumbing New Age metaphysics), Sunbelt Stories (a collection of novelettes, including sociocultural analysis by a humpback whale), and Split Creek (regarding a WW2 romance in the Rocky Mountains between the son of a Communist saboteuse in Berlin and the daughter of a Nazi saboteur in Wyoming). Although none of these stories made Blum rich, Equator was optioned for film in Hollywood (though never produced), and the flagship tale of Sunbelt was lauded by America’s leading literary critic, Gordon Lish. Here in New Zealand, DownMind received a favourable review in the Listener (22 Feb. ’14) and landed Blum summer residencies at the University of Auckland and Canterbury respectively.

Chard Pawley joined the merchant navy at the age of seventeen; by twenty-nine he was a ship’s captain, a position he maintains to this day. He is also a self-professed history nerd, with a bachelor’s degree to prove it. When he isn’t navigating the high seas, he resides in New Zealand with his wife, two children, and their dog Kodi.

Fredrik is a Swedish writer who has lived in Dunedin since 2009. In July 2013 his first English novel, The Prince of Soul and The Lighthouse, won the 2013 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Youth Novel. His previous books include a children's sci-fi thriller (The Hunt for the Energy Gizmo, 2006) and a young adult pop novel, (Yoga for Rockstars, 2008) both of which were published in Swedish. His works have been translated into several languages.

This formidable husband and wife duo pieced together recently recovered fragments of Katherine Mansfield's work, recreating beloved tales as they were first written, complete with vampires, ghouls, and alien monsters in Mansfield with Monsters. The collaboration was hugely successful, earning them the 2013 Sir Julius Vogel Award for best new talent. Their book won the 2013 Sir Julius Vogel Award for best collected work and was named one of the New Zealand Listener’s 100 best books of 2012. They live on the Kapiti Coast where they continue to write and teach.

Michael Morrissey is known as an inventive writer of poetry, short stories and novellas. Since his first collection of poems was released in 1978, he has published several volumes of poetry, receiving notable awards for his work. His first collection of short stories won the 1982 PEN Award for Best First Book of Fiction. He has also edited key anthologies, written novellas, and written for the stage, radio and film.

Joseph Edward Ryan’s critically acclaimed debut novel The Factory World (2103) was followed by The Glass Projector (2014), the first book in his Witches of Autumn series for nine to twelve year olds.  The Amber Fountain, the second in the series, was released in 2015. Joseph Edward Ryan is also an award-winning author of short fiction and has an MA in creative writing.

Cao Wenxuan won the Hans Christian Andersen Award - often referred to as 'the Nobel Prize of children's literature' - in 2016. The International Board on Books for Young People’s jury noted Cao writes beautifully about the complex lives of children facing great challenges. He is a deeply committed writer, whose own difficult childhood has been deeply influential on his writing, in which there are no easy answers. A professor at Peking University and a member of the Chinese Writers Association’s national committee, Cao has penned over fifty titles and is one of China’s most important and original children’s authors. His stories have been translated into many languages. Cao Wenxuan’s numerous accolades include the Chinese Government Award for Publishing (2013), and two Outstanding Book Awards from China’s General Administration of Press and Publication.

Writer, translator and president of the Overseas Chinese Literature and Art Association of Japan, Tang Yaming was born in Beijing in 1953. 

He travelled to Japan in 1983, where he studied at Waseda University and the University of Tokyo. 

For over thirty years, he worked as picture book editor at Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers, Japan’s most influential publisher of children’s books. 

A director of the Association of Chinese Professors in Japan, Tang Yaming has taught at numerous universities andintroduced Chinese literature to many Japanese readers. 

His award-winning works include novels, essay collections, and picture books

Renowned pencil artist Susumu Kinoshita is a professor at Kanazawa University. He lectures at the University of Tokyo’s School of Engineering, Musashino Art University, and Nigata University of Pharmacy and Applied Life Science. He has held exhibitions in Paris, New York, and all over Japan, and his pictures are displayed in numerous art galleries. The old and infirm feature prominently in his work, his precise etching of their faces making his subjects almost tangible.

Yu Rong is a British Chinese artist and graduate of the Royal College of Art. In her work, she aims to portray Chinese culture to a western audience. Much of her inspiration stems from observing scenes of daily life in Europe and from happy memories of her early life in China. Her awards include The Quentin Blake Award for Narrative Illustration (1999), The Folio Society Illustration Awards (1999), and the Sheila Robinson Drawing Prize (2000). Her illustrations for The Cloud-like Myna won a Golden Apple award at the 24th Biennial of Illustration Bratislava, and a Golden Pinwheel at the 2013 Shanghai International Book Fair. Yu Rong lives in rural Cambridgeshire with her husband, Donkey, and her three children.

Duncan Poupard developed a fascination with China while studying for a history degree at the University of York. For ten years, he immersed himself in the study of China and its languages, obtaining an MA in Sinology from the School of African and Oriental Studies in London. He has travelled widely throughout China, working as a translator and news correspondent. Duncan lives in Hong Kong, where he teaches Chinese-English translation at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is studying for a PhD in Translation.

Yan Ding, also known as Lydia, is working with Eunoia Publishing Group on a number of new titles. She gained her PhD in Translation Studies from the University of Auckland after completing both a BA in English and an MA in Applied Linguistics at Dalian University of Technology, China. Her translations have been published by Beijing University Press and Chongqing University Press, including “Female Writers in Ming and Ching Dynasty”, “Introduction to Nietzsche” and “Introduction to the Birth of Tragedy”. Lydia believes that translation bridges the gaps between different cultures, allowing readers to comprehend each other’s perspectives on life and living. For every work of translation, Lydia’s aim is to achieve a beautiful and faithful rendition.

Paul is a writer, poet and professional communicator based in Auckland, New Zealand. His journalism has appeared in many metropolitan and provincial New Zealand newspapers. His fiction has been broadcast on National Radio and published in the New Zealand Herald newspaper and “Caress”, a feminist ‘zine. Paul studied journalism at the Auckland Technical Institute (now the Auckland University of Technology) and fiction writing at Owen Marshall’s Polytechnic programme.
 

Dawn McMillan is an author with twenty years’ experience in writing picture book scripts and educational readers. She has had a long and satisfying career as a primary school teacher, which included her work in the Learning in Science Programme, and contributions to the then Primary School Science curriculum.

Now she writes as her career. Her published works include 27 picture books, 210 educational readers, and poetry. Some work has been translated to French and Spanish.

The educational works range from entry level readers to upper primary texts, with several chapter books at this higher level. Her work includes a variety of non-fiction at all levels, including readers with Science and Math focus.

Kim Goldwater was born on Auckland’s North Shore in 1937. He studied Engineering at Auckland University and graduated with a Batchelor’s degree in Civil Engineering. He and his wife, Jeanette, travelled overseas where he worked as a Civil Engineer, spending three years in London and two years in Spain, before returning to New Zealand.

Their time in Spain gave them a love of fine wine and the understanding that New Zealand could also produce wine of a similar high quality. This led them to establish a pioneer vineyard on Waiheke Island. Their success in this venture encouraged them to expandproduction into Marlborough and later Hawkes Bay, to become one of the largest and most prestigious wine producers in New Zealand.

Joan Norlev Taylor is a New Zealander of Anglo-Danish heritage currently living in Wivenhow, England. Her writing has been published in the UK, USA, Australia and NZ.

Her published fictional work is Conversations with Mr Prain, 2006 & 2011 and kissing Bowie, 2013.

In addition to fiction and poetry, she has written a narrative history of the travels of Elizabethan merchant adventurer Henry Timberlake (The Englishman, the Moor and the Holy City, 2006) and edited and annotated a 19th-century Danish memoir (Cecile Hertz, Livserindringer: Memories of my Life, 2009). She also writes academic non-fiction in her specialist fields of ancient religion, history and archaeology. Having taught at Waikato University in the departments of History and Religious Studies, she now works at Kings College in London

Julie has been writing for many years. She her first novel The Discombobulated Life of Summer Rain was published by Makaro Press in 2016. It was shortlited for the Tom Fitzgibbon  Award. In between drafts of Summer Rain, she wrote four more novels, including House of Spirits.  House  of  Spirits is  based  on  the  childhood  home  and  valley  where  she grew  up in New Zealand. Julie now lives in Melbourne.
 

Florence Kiss is a French author. The Seed is the first and only English edition of Florence Kiss’s prize-winning French novel “Les naufragés du néant”. She lived most of her life in other countries.“The Seed” is the symbolic outcome of this experience. Now back in France she travels figuratively through art: music, painting and writing.

Latesha (Tesh) Randall is based in the peaceful seaside surf town of Raglan, NZ with her partner Seb. Together they enjoy writing, bee-keeping, off-the-grid building (projects include a yurt and a tiny house), gardening, surfing, alongside running their fast-growing coconut yoghurt brand (Raglan Coconut Yoghurt). As a youngster, Tesh volunteered at her local library for years and relished being surrounded by books! Her love of words has lead to publishing several children's books with Eunoia Publishing, and a personal development book, The To-Be List, with Blue Mountain Arts in the United States. She is also the Editor of Arrival travel magazine and freelances for many other magazines. 

AT McIting is a mystery. Due to the nature of the subject matter of her writing, she wishes to remain so.

Kees Lodder MD is a Palliative Medicine Specialist who has been working in Whangarei Hospital and North Haven Hospice in New Zealand during this crisis. The Graduate Press title Opening Little Boxes is dedicated to Kees’s 99- year old mother, who died from COVID-19 on April 21, 2020, in her nursing home in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.