Barbara Else

Barbara Else was born in Invercargill NZ in 1947.  She has lived in Wellington, Auckland, Oamaru, Christchurch, San Diego, Dunedin, and is now back in the Wellington area. She has two daughters and four grandchildren. She is fond of gardening and cats.

Barbara is the author of six novels for adults and three for children. A  fourth is due in September 2012.  Her latest children's book, The Travelling Restaurant, has been short listed for the 2012 NZ Post Children's Book Award and was winner of the 2012 IBBY NZ Honour Book for Writing. It has also been won a White Raven award from the International Youth Library. She has also written plays and many short stories, and has edited several anthologies of children’s stories.  Her first novel The Warrior Queen was short listed for the Montana New Zealand Book Award and her second, Gingerbread Husbands, for the Booksellers BookData Award.  She has been Writer in Residence at Victoria University of Wellington, and has held a Creative New Zealand Scholarship in Letters.  She is also a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for Services to Literature.  With her husband, author Chris Else, she runs an advisory service for writers.

She has been a judge for Young Writer Section, Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award and for the NZ Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
 

Selected bibliography:

• The Warrior Queen (Godwit Publishing 1995; HarperCollins Australia 1995; Macmillan UK 1998; Goldmann Verlag Germany 1998).
• Gingerbread Husbands (Godwit Publishing 1997; HarperCollins Aus (Flamingo); 1998 Macmillan UK 1999).
• Skitterfoot Leaper (HarperCollins NZ 1997). 
• Eating Peacocks (Random House NZ (Vintage) 1998).
• Tricky Situations (Random House NZ 1999).
• Three Pretty Widows (Random House NZ (Vintage) 2000).
• Another 30 New Zealand Stories for Children editor, illustrated by David Elliot (Random House 2002).
• The Case of the Missing Kitchen (Random House NZ (Vintage) 2003). 
• 30 Weird & Wonderful New Zealand Stories editor, illustrated by Philip Webb (Random House 2003).
• Claws & Jaws: 30 New Zealand Animal Stories editor, illustrated by Philip Webb (Random House 2004).
• Like Wallpaper: New Zealand Short Stories for Teenagers editor (Random House 2005).
• Mischief & Mayhem: 30 New Zealand Stories editor, illustrated by Philip Webb (Random House 2005).
• Hideous & Hilarious: 30 New Zealand Historical Stories editor, illustrated by Philip Webb (Random House 2006).
• Dare and Double-dare: 30 Sports Stories for Children editor, (Random House NZ 2007).
• Wild Latitudes (Random House NZ (Vintage) 2007).
• Showtime!: 30 NZ Stories for Children editor, (Random House NZ 2008). 
• The Travelling Restaurant (Gecko Press 2011).
• Great Mates: 30 NZ Stories for Children editor, (Random House 2011).

Awards

• Storylines Notable Books List 2012 Junior Fiction list for The Travelling Restaurant.
• New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards 2012 Junior Fiction list for The Travelling Restaurant.
• White Ravens 2012 List for The Travelling Restaurant.
• IBBY Honour List 2012 for Writing for The Travelling Restaurant.

Website

• Elsewhere.

Storylines thanks zeald.com for their ongoing support of the Storylines website.