Chief Executive – Jenny Nagle

Jenny Nagle joined the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (PEN NZ Inc) as Chief Executive in June 2017. She represents NZSA at We Create and is a board member of The Coalition for Books. NZSA collaborates across the literary sector with other organisations and engages in advocacy work on issues that affect the incomes and visibility of NZ writers and writing.

Her career has spanned work in management, and sales and marketing in trade and educational publishing in both New Zealand and Australia. She joined Hodder & Stoughton’s educational division in NZ, before moving across the Tasman, first with Thomas Nelson as Marketing Manager for the Schools Division, and then back with Hodder as Marketing Director of the Trade Division, where they became HodderHeadline. Jenny was responsible for marketing and retail promotions, special sales, the wholesale division and Advance School Supplies. While in Australia Jenny served 4 elected years on the Australian Publishers’ Association Trade Book Marketing Committee (Life. Be In it/Reading campaigns; Copyright Law Review) and served 4 years on the Children’s Book Council NSW committee and handled marketing and sponsorship on the inaugural CBC National Conference committee.

Jenny has worked for Hodder & Stoughton, Thomas Nelson, HodderHeadline, School Supplies, Addenda, APN NZ (Kid’s Club) and the APA Small Publishers Association. Back in New Zealand, she founded Addenda in 1996 (NZ agency sales and marketing representation for small and independent publishers) and in 2002 purchased Addenda’s third-party distributor EDL from Boise Cascade which became PDL (sold 2004). Over the years she has attended international book fairs and worked with a host of writers for promotional tours and literary festivals. Jenny was part of the Storylines Management Committee 2017-8.

Addenda won The Best of the Bestsellers Award from Booksellers NZ in both 1998 and 1999, for the most appearances on the bestseller lists for Rich Dad, Poor Dad. She managed the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize Final Programme in NZ in 2009 and is a Director of the children’s and young adult press OneTree House, founded in 2017. Contact Jenny Nagle

Programmes + Operations Manager – Claire Hill

As Programmes + Operations Manager, Claire oversees NZSA programmes, membership, awards and key services.

At the core of NZSA are its member services for mentorship and assessment programmes, communications, prizes and awards and Claire facilitates the smooth running of these – including management of the selection process, publicising the programmes and awards and ensuring the programmes and awards themselves remain vital. Claire manages the authors.org.nz website and oversees membership systems, comms and other services. She is in regular contact with NZSA’s members.

She is a writer and editor with a BA in Media Studies. Claire was managing editor and designer of School’s Out! magazine for six years and has worked on publications such as Te Rau Mata, Speak2Me, Go See Discover and AA Traveller. She co-edited Beyond the Free Market (Dunmore 2014) and works across platforms including websites, print and Ebooks. See author profile. Contact Claire Hill

Programmes and Events – Kirsten Le Harivel

Kirsten Le Harivel works part-time for NZSA and manages our professional development events including our WebWorkshops, Writer Toolkit and Regional Roadshows.

She is a writer, programme manager and founder of Writers Practice which offers craft, community and conversation for writers in Aotearoa. Her debut poetry collection Shelter came out in 2021 with The Cuba Press and she has an MA in Creative Writing from Victoria University of Wellington.

She works remotely from the Kāpiti Coast where she lives with her young family.
Contact Kirsten Le Harivel

NZ Author Magazine Editor – Tina Shaw

Tina Shaw is the author of novels, children’s books and short stories. Her work history has mostly involved books and writing – from working as a freelance journalist to tutoring creative writing for an online school. She is a manuscript assessor, mentor, and book reviewer, and for six years, until 2011, was Programme Manager for the NZSA.

Tina edits and produces the seasonal 4 x NZ Author magazine for NZSA, each year, releasing Feb, March, August and November.

Contact Tina Shaw

Audio & Special Projects – Elizabeth (Libby) Kirkby-McLeod

Elizabeth (Libby) Kirkby-McLeod is a New Zealand author whose poetry and writing have appeared in a range of New Zealand journals, online publications, and in the public art installation, In Our Words in downtown Auckland. She has also had several books published – see her author profile for more details.

Libby was actively involved in the Auckland Branch for years, including several as Branch Secretary. She now lives in Cambridge. She produces the NZSA Oral History Podcast series as funding allows.

Libby has a First Class Master of Creative Writing from AUT, where she was a recipient of the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Study. She currently works for RNZ in the Waikato.

The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (PEN NZ) Inc Representation

The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (PEN NZ) Inc has representatives on boards, committees, and advisory groups across the Aotearoa New Zealand book sector to represent writers’ interests and collaborate on campaigns to support NZ writers and writing.