Storylines Children’s Literature Charitable Trust of New Zealand | Te Whare Waituhi Tamariki o Aotearoa

Profile

Belinda O'Keefe

Author Belinda O’Keefe has a degree in Japanese, and worked in the tourism industry before changing career paths to focus on the exciting world of literature, studying book editing, proofreading and publishing.

She was born in Greymouth, and moved to Canterbury when she was six. She grew up surrounded by books, learning that no tale is too tall to tell. She now lives in Christchurch with her husband, two boys, two cats and four rambunctious hens, who all give her great inspiration for her writing. She says, “I adore books, and love reading so much that I do it for a living – I’m the sub-editor of Latitude Magazine and a freelance copy editor.”

Belinda-O'Keefe-2021-web

Selected bibliography:

  • You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are!/Me i Mōhio Koe ki tō Waimarietanga!, illustrated by Ross Kinnaird (Oratia Media 2023)
  • Journey Through the Cat Door, illustrated by Monica Koster (Bateman Books 2022)
  • Partners in Slime (Scholastic NZ 2021)
  • The Bakery Bird, illustrated by David Legge (‘Orbit’ The School Magazine July 2020)
  • The Day Our Mum Went Crazy, illustrated by Lesley Vamos (‘Blast Off’ The School Magazine August 2020)
  • The Leaky Creaky Cottage, illustrated by Peter Sheehan (‘Countdown’ The School Magazine August 2020)
  • The Day the Plants Fought Back, illustrated by Richard Hoit (Scholastic NZ 2019)

Awards:

  • Shortlisted for the Storylines Joy Cowley Award (2016, 2017, 2021)
  • Finalist for ‘Best First Book’ in the 2020 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
  • Winner of the 2020 Storylines Tom Fitzgibbon Award
  • Highly Commended for the 2021 Storylines Junior Fiction Notable Book Awards.

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