Tessa Duder was educated in Auckland and as a teenager swam butterfly for New Zealand at the 1958 Cardiff Empire Games. She then trained and worked as a journalist in Auckland and London before marrying and raising four daughters in London, Pakistan and New Zealand.
She began writing fiction at 38. Her novels for young readers, published in America, Britain, Australia, Canada and in five languages, include Night Race to Kawau, Jellybean, the Alex quartet, Mercury Beach, Hot Mail (with William Taylor) and the Tiggie Tompson trilogy. In 1993 Alex was adapted as a full-length movie. Her non-fiction books include anthologies for both young and adult readers, and in 2005 the first full-length portrait of Margaret Mahy. Other literary activities include occasional teaching, visiting schools, judging, and serving as a Trustee of the Storylines Children's Literature Trust of New Zealand. She is also deputy chairman of the Spirit of Adventure Trust.
Among her awards are three New Zealand Children's Book of the Year awards and three Esther Glen medals, also the 2005 Gaelyn Gordon Award for a Much-loved Book for Night Race to Kawau. She held the Waikato University writer’s Fellowship in 1991, the Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellowship to Menton, France, in 2003, and in 2007 travelled to Antarctica on an Artists to Antarctica fellowship. She was awarded a New Zealand Commemorative Medal in 1990, an O.B.E. in 1994, and the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal in 1996. In 2008 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for services to youth by The University of Waikato.
Her most recent works are a collection of adult short stories entitled Is She Still Alive? and The Word Witch – the magical verse of Margaret Mahy. Work-in-progress currently includes a young adult novel and three pieces for children’s theatre.
Among her leisure interests are theatre-going, music, reading and sailing. She lives in Auckland, and has four daughters and two grandchildren.
Storylines established the Tessa Duder Award in her name, an in honour of the place Tessa holds in the establishment of the young adult genre in the New Zealand literary landscape.
Selected bibliography:
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Night Race to Kawau (Oxford University Press 1982).
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Jellybean (Oxford University Press 1985).
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Alex (Oxford University Press 1987) published in the US as In Lane Three, Alex Archer (Houghton Mifflin Co. 1989).
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Alex in Winter (Oxford University Press 1989).
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Alessandra: Alex in Rome (Oxford University Press 1991).
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Songs for Alex (Oxford University Press 1992).
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Journey to Olympia: The Story of the Olympic Games illustrated by Grant Cole (Ashton Scholastic 1992).
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The Making of Alex the Movie photographs by Gil Hanly and Ken George (Ashton Scholastic 1993).
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Nearly Seventeen: New Zealand Stories collected by Tessa Duder (Penguin Books 1993).
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Crossing: New Zealand and Australian Short Stories edited by Tessa Duder and Agnes Nieuwenhuizen (Reed 1995).
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Falling in Love edited by Tessa Duder (Puffin Books 1995).
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Warrior Virgin: A New Play About Joan of Arc with Martin Baynton; music by Laughton Pattrick (Heinemann 1996).
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Mercury Beach (Puffin 1997).
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Personal Best edited by Tessa Duder and Peter McFarlane (Reed 1997).
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The Tiggie Tompson Show (Puffin Books 1999).
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Hot Mail with William Taylor (Puffin Books 2000).
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A Book of Pacific Lullabies edited by Tessa Duder, illustrated by Anton Petrov (HarperCollins 2001).
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Tiggie Tompson, All at Sea (Puffin Books 2001).
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Storylines: The Anthology edited by Tessa Duder. (Scholastic 2003).
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Tiggie Tompson's Longest Journey (Puffin Books 2003).
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Down to the Sea Again: True Sea Stories for Young New Zealanders edited by Tessa Duder (HarperCollins Publishers 2005).
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Margaret Mahy: A Writer's Life (HarperCollins 2005).
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Carpet of Dreams illustrated by Mark Wilson (Angus & Robertson 2006).
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Too Close to the Wind and Other Stories (HarperCollins 2006).
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Out of the Deep and Other Stories about New Zealand and the Pacific edited with Lorraine Orman, illustrated by Bruce Potter (Reed 2007).
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The Word Witch: The Magical Verse of Margaret Mahy edited by Tessa Duder, illustrated by David Elliot.
Awards:
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New Zealand Government Publishing Awards - New Zealand Children's Book of the Year Award 1988 for Alex.
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Esther Glen Award Winner 1988 for Alex.
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AIM Children’s Book Awards Fiction Winner 1990 for Alex in Winter.
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Esther Glen Award Winner 1990 for Alex in Winter.
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Waikato University Writer-in-Residence 1991.
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AIM Children’s Book Awards Fiction third prize 1992 for Alessandra: Alex in Rome.
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Esther Glen Award Winner 1992 for Alessandra: Alex in Rome.
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AIM Children’s Book Awards Fiction Senior Fiction Winner 1993 for Songs for Alex.
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Esther Glen Award shortlist 1993 for Songs for Alex.
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OBE 1994.
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AIM Children’s Book Awards Non-fiction shortlist 1994 for The Making of Alex the Movie.
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Storylines Margaret Mahy Award 1996.
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New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards Young Adult Fiction Winner 2000 for The Tiggie Tompson Show.
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Storylines Notable Books List 2000 Senior Fiction list for The Tiggie Tompson Show.
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Storylines Notable Books List 2002 Non-fiction List for A Book of Pacific Lullabies.
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Storylines Notable Books List 2002 Senior Fiction list for Tiggie Tompson All at Sea.
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Katherine Mansfield Award 2003.
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Storylines Notable Books List 2004 Young Adult Fiction list for Tiggie Tompson's Longest Journey.
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Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award 2005 for Night Race to Kawau.
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Antarctic Arts Fellow 2007.
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New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards 2010 Picture Book finalist and Honour Award winner for The Word Witch.
Website:
Other resources:
Storylines thanks zeald.com for their ongoing support of the Storylines website.
