Joan is a professional writer, teacher, lecturer and mentor to new writers. Joan has been a travel agent and extensive world traveller. Joan has been our tutor since 1996.

Her skills cover creative writing, journalism, family history and play scripts. During 1999-2001 Joan was President of NZ Society of Authors. This required her to travel widely and represent NZSA authors in dealing with publishers etc.

Joan’s own work includes these novels: Cast Two Shadows, Voyagers, Canterbury Tales, Mother Tongue and her latest novel, Yes; a play: The Stars Go Down; instructional guides for writers: Writing Your Family History and So You Want To Write. You’ll find Joan very patient and helpful.

Caroline Barron is an author, manuscript assessor and book coach, book reviewer and Creative New Zealand peer assessor. Caroline’s passion for helping writers find their voice and improve their writing craft is at the heart of her work.

Caroline has a Masters in Creative Writing and a journalism degree. She was a trustee of Michael King Writers Centre for four years, where she led the committee responsible for selecting residency recipients, and was on the selection panel for the New Zealand Society of Authors Complete Manuscript Assessment Programme.

Caroline’s book Ripiro Beach: A Memoir of Life After Near Death won the 2020 New Zealand Heritage Literary Award for Non-fiction. Her recent awards also include: 2021 Ngaio Marsh Award nominee (Ripiro Beach); 2020 National Flash Fiction Day (Auckland region winner); 2020 Surrey Hotel Residency (shortlisted); 2018 New Zealand Heritage Literary Award (winner, short prose); 2018 NZSA CompleteMS programme recipient; and winner of the 2015 NZSA LiIian Ida Smith Award. Her website is carolinebarronauthor.com.

Tina Shaw is a novelist, short story and freelance writer who lives
in Taupo. Her stories have been published in anthologies, literary journals and magazines. Her recent literary novel for adults is The Children’s Pond (Pointer Press). In 2013 she edited the Bateman New Zealand Writer’s Handbook.

She is a winner of the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship, has held the Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers’ Residency, and was Writer in Residence at the University of Waikato. She has also written junior and young adult fiction, including Into the Hinterland, and its sequel Dogs of the Hinterland as well as books for the ‘Kiwi Bites’ and ‘Mainsails’ series. Her young adult novel About Griffen’s Heart was a Storylines Notable Book in 2010.

Tina has many years experience as a manuscript assessor. She is a mentor and assessor for the NZ Society of Authors. Her website is www.tinashaw.co.nz