Sacha Cotter
Kawerau born Sacha Cotter, is an award-winning children´s writer based in Wellington, New Zealand.
She is the author of picture books Keys/Ngā Kī, The Marble Maker/Te Kaihanga Māpere, and the 2019 Margaret Mahy Children's Book of the Year, The Bomb/Te Pohū - all published by HUIA and illustrated by her partner in both books and life, Josh Morgan.
Sacha is also involved in writing for children’s television. She has written for both The Kiddets and The Book Hungry Bears, two animated shows produced by Pūkeko Pictures.
Before publishing her first book Keys, Sacha gained an arts degree and a teaching diploma. She worked in a wide variety of jobs and lived abroad for several years.
Whilst living in Valencia, Spain, Sacha completed several short film courses. During this time her short script 'Wasabi Peas' was a semi-finalist at the 2013 L.A Comedy Shorts Festival.
Since returning to New Zealand, Sacha has completed the Writing for Children Workshop and the Master Class in Television Script Writing with the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University, Wellington. She has also participated in a writing workshop under the tutelage of Kate de Goldi.
Sacha loves lots of things including stop motion animation, daydreaming, biscuits, books, chatting, dancing, curly dogs, space noodles and woolly mammoths named Stanley.
Awards:
-IBBY International Honour List 2020 for The Bomb (illustration)
-NZ Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2019 - The Bomb - Margaret Mahy Book of the Year - Supreme Winner
-NZ Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2019 - The Bomb - Winner Picture Book Award
-NZ Book Awards for Children & Young Adults - The Bomb - Finalist Russell Clark Award for Illustration
-PANZ Book Design Awards 2019 - The Bomb - Winner Scholastic NZ Award for Best Picture Book
-PANZ Book Design Awards 2019 - The Bomb - Finalist HarperCollins Award for Best Cover
-Storylines Notable Book Award 2019 - The Bomb - Picture Book Category
-New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2017 - Te Kaihanga Māpere - Winner Te Kura Pounamu Award for Te Reo Māori
- IBBY International Honour List 2016 for Ngā Kī (translation)
-New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2015 - Keys - Finalist Picture Book Award
-New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2015 - Ngā Kī - Winner Māori Language Award
—LIANZA Children & Young Adults Book Awards 2015 - Ngā Kī - Finalist Te Kura Pounamu (Te Reo Māori)
Genre:
- ChildrensFiction
- ChildrensNonFiction
- Freelance Writer
- Scriptwriter
Skills:
Branch:
Wellington
Location:
Publications:
Keys
This is a touching tale of the special bond between a father and daughter and their imaginative bedtime stories. In this picture book, as Dad tucks his daughter into bed, he tells her fantastically imaginative stories about the keys on his key ring and what they unlock – from a zippenburger that takes him to work, to a rocket to collect space noodles, a treasure box in the jungle, a chocolate biscuit factory where he taste tests all the biscuits, and a paddock where he rides a woolly mammoth that only eats yellow food.
Available for purchase from HUIA & all good book stores.
Ngā Kī
This is the award winning Māori language version of Keys, translated by Kawata Teepa.
Available for purchase from HUIA & all good book stores.
The Marble Maker
In a chaotic lab, with a sheep as an assistant, a girl mixes ingredients as diverse as ‘teeth bling from a retired rapper’, ‘three pints of swooshy night air’ and ‘a snippet from a sheep’s fringe’. The girl dreams of inventing a new marble and claiming a place in The Book of Marbles. So, she lights up the stoves, prepares the mix, waits for the reaction and, with a bang, marbles that have never been seen before fill the room.
Available for purchase from HUIA & all good book stores.
Te Kaihanga Māpere
This is the award-winning Māori language version of The Marble Maker, translated by Kawata Teepa.
Available for purchase from HUIA & all good book stores.
The Bomb
In this multi-award-winning story about being true to oneself, a boy searches for the secret to doing the perfect bomb into the water. With training from Nan, an expert and former champion, and by listening to his own voice, he finds his unique style and pulls off a wonderful, acrobatic, truly awe-inspiring bomb.
Available for purchase from HUIA & all good book stores.
Te Pohū
This book is the te reo Māori edition of The Bomb, translated by Kawata Teepa.
Available for purchase from HUIA & all good book stores.