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Barbara Else

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

Barbara is the author of six novels for adults and six for children. Her children’s book The Travelling Restaurant won the Esther Glen Medal in the 2012 LIANZA Awards and was the 2012 IBBY NZ Honour Book for Writing. She has also written plays and short stories and edited several anthologies of children’s stories. Her first novel The Warrior Queen was shortlisted for the Montana New Zealand Book Awards and her second, Gingerbread Husbands, for the Booksellers BookData Award. She has been Writer in Residence at Victoria University 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.

In 2016 she was Creative New Zealand/University of Otago Children’s Writer in Residence and was also awarded the Margaret Mahy Medal for Services to Children’s Literature. With her husband, author Chris Else, she runs an advisory service for writers.

barbara-else

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 (Vintage) 1998)
  • Tricky Situations (Random House 1999)
  • Three Pretty Widows (Random House (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 (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 2007)
  • Wild Latitudes (Random House (Vintage) 2007)
  • Showtime!: 30 NZ Stories for Children editor (Random House 2008).
  • The Travelling Restaurant (Gecko Press 2011)
  • Great Mates: 30 NZ Stories for Children editor (Random House 2011)
  • The Queen and the Nobody Boy (Gecko Press 2012)
  • The Volume of Possible Endings (Gecko Press 2014)
  • The Knot Impossible (Gecko Press 2015).

Awards:

  • 2011 New Zealand 2012 IBBY Honour Book for Writing: The Travelling Restaurant (Gecko Press)
  • 2012 Storylines Notable Book Award (Junior Fiction) for The Travelling Restaurant.
  • 2012 White Raven Award: The Travelling Restaurant
  • 2012 Esther Glen Medal for Best Children’s Novel, LIANZA Awards: The Travelling Restaurant
  • 2012 Honour Award for Junior Fiction, New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards: The Travelling Restaurant
  • 2013 Storylines Notable Book: The Queen and the Nobody Boy (Gecko Press)
  • 2013 Honour Award, NZ Post Children’s Book Awards: The Queen and the Nobody Boy
  • 2013 Storylines Notable Book: The Queen and the Nobody Boy
  • 2013 Short listing for LIANZA Awards: The Queen and the Nobody Boy
  • 2015 Storylines Notable Book: The Volume of Possible Endings
  • 2015 Short listing Esther Glen Award LIANZA: The Volume of Possible Endings
  • 2016 Storylines Notable Book Award (Junior Fiction) for The Knot Impossible

Other Resources:

Tales of Fontania blog.

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Storylines Trust Te Whare Waituhi Tamariki and Friends of Storylines Te Pou o Te Whare Waituhi Tamariki together form New Zealand’s only national organisation working year-round to promote New Zealand children’s and young adult literature through activities that include a major national Story Tour to schools, early childhood centres and communities, and awards for writers, illustrators and those who work in the area of New Zealand children’s literature

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