Barbara Else is the author of six novels for adults, seven for children, and the non-fiction Go Girl – A Storybook of Epic NZ Women. She has also edited several anthologies of stories for children and young adults. Her first novel, The Warrior Queen, was on the NZ Bestseller list for almost a year and short listed for the Montana New Zealand Book Awards. Her second, Gingerbread Husbands, was short listed for the Booksellers BookData Award.  Several of her adult and children's novels have had overseas publication. Books in Barbara’s fantasy quartet for children, Tales of Fontania, won several awards locally and an IBBY and a White Raven (international).  Barbara holds an MNZM for services to literature, the Esther Glen Medal and the Margaret Mahy Award. She has been Writer in Residence at Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka and the Otago University College of Education/Creative New Zealand Children’s Writer in Residence. With her husband, author Chris Else, she runs TFS, an advisory service for writers: this includes a manuscript assessment service. Barbara is co-ordinator of the New Zealand Association of Manuscript Assessors. She has twice been a judge for the NZ Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and in 2018 she delivered The Margaret Mahy Memorial Lecture at Christchurch WORD. Her latest book is a memoir, Laughing at the Dark (Penguin) 2023. It was short listed in the Ockham Awards 2024.  She was also elected NZSA President of Honour 2024.

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