Storylines Children’s Literature Charitable Trust of New Zealand | Te Whare Waituhi Tamariki o Aotearoa
A graduate of Canterbury’s School of Fine Arts, Gavin Bishop is a writer/illustrator who has Waikato/Ngāti Pukeko affiliations and these show to advantage in his work, especially Kātarina, a story of his great-aunt’s life. Married with three daughters, he was a high school art teacher for many years, but now works full time as a writer and illustrator.
In 1985 Gavin was commissioned to write and design a ballet for the Royal New Zealand Ballet Company – ‘Terrible Tom’ toured the country for 18 months, followed by ‘Te Maia and the Sea Devil’ in 1987. In 2003 Gavin’s short story ‘Giant Jimmy Jones’ was launched as the world’s first 3D animated children’s picture book.
Gavin won the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal in 2000 and in 2002 Gavin’s plaque became part of Christchurch’s Writers’ Walkway. In 2009 Storylines launched the Storylines Gavin Bishop Award for Picture Book Illustration, in honour of one of New Zealand’s celebrated children’s illustrators.
He is currently a board member of Read NZ Te Pou Muramura (NZ Book Council) and was on the board of Painted Stories, an organisation that exhibited New Zealand children’s book Illustration and was funded by the royalties from Quaky Cat (Scholastic NZ 2010) until it went into recess in 2021. He became a member of the Southland Museum Governance Board in 2021.
