Julie Kennedy is a Picton-based writer. The Marlborough Sounds and local landscape inspire her writing both non-fiction and poetry. She graduated from Auckland University and has travelled extensively. In the 1990s she lived near the house in Days Bay, Wellington, where Katherine Mansfield spent her holidays. Her book Katherine Mansfield in Picton was published by Cape Catley in 2000 and was one of 40 books selected by NZSA  to be displayed at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2012. In 2018 Copy Press, Nelson reprinted the original book for her so it is still available. On her website she has a literary walk around Picton tracing Katherine Mansfield's childhood visits to the town and the Beauchamp connection. She has poetry in a number of anthologies and in the Aotearoa Sound Archive. Julie was Top of the South Branch Delegate to the NZSA National Council from 2008-April 2010. She has edited two anthologies by Picton Poets, Reflections (2011) and Impressions (2017).  She has also contributed to the Top of the South Writers' Trail: www.topwriters.co.nz. Julie is hoping to have a collection of her poetry published in the near future. She is currently working on a non-fiction book about Captain Cook in Queen Charlotte Sound. Julie enjoys working on community projects. From 2017-2020 she was Co-Chair of the Picton Smart and Connected Heritage Group leading a kaupapa (project) to make Picton heritage more visible with a series of plaques containing QR codes that link to an online Marlborough Heritage Trail. Her interests, apart from writing, are reading, gardening, walking, vegan cooking, learning Te Reo and belonging to local writing and heritage groups. For a number of years she belonged to Eco Artists NZ however this has ceased to exist. Julie continues her contribution to caring for the environment with membership of Forest and Bird, Kaipupu Point Wildlife Sanctuary and Picton Dawn Chorus, an organic approach to gardening, and a personal belief in a sustainable lifestyle.

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