The Luna Foundation team is thrilled to announce that Hazel Phillips has been selected as the recipient of the inaugural Luna Foundation’s Writers Residency 2025.

The judges said, “Hazel’s compelling vision, literacy excellence and bold voice stood out among an extraordinary pool of applicants. The selection process was highly competitive and we are deeply grateful to every writer who shared and trusted us with their work.”

Hazel Phillips is the author of four books: Fire & Ice (2025); Solo: Backcountry adventuring in Aotearoa New Zealand (2022); Wild Westie (2014), a biography of Sir Bob Harvey; and Sell! (2013), a social history of New Zealand’s advertising industry. Hazel has a background in newspaper and magazine journalism, and her writing has been published in media and journals across New Zealand and Australia. She published an essay in the book Otherhood (2024) and contributed to the global publication Atlas of Mountaineering (2025), edited by Conrad Anker and Katie Ives. Hazel holds a Masters in Creative Writing with first-class honours and an MA in media studies. She is currently working on her next book, about early women climbers and adventurers of Aoraki Mount Cook.

The Luna Foundation is a female-led, family-run charitable organisation that empowers and supports women throughout New Zealand in the areas of education, health and wellbeing, arts and culture, and entrepreneurial endeavours. The Writers Residency was created because the Foundation recognised that women writers would especially benefit from dedicated time spent progressing their creative projects. The winner will spend 14-nights in Hawke’s Bay and receive a stipend of $3500.