ABOUT US

The New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) has been in operation since 1934, promoting the interests of writers nationwide. 


The Top of the South Branch, which is devoted to the interests of writers in the top of the south region of the South Island, was established in 2005 and is managed by a small group of dedicated writers.

CURRENT COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Lucy Hodgson
Lucy Hodgson became Chair in May 2019. Her resumé reads like fiction, with jobs including marine research assistant, scientific editor, ski instructor, press officer, walk guide and unpublished best-seller writer. Now settled in Riwaka, commercial copywriting pays the bills. Brochures, press releases, tourism websites and short story competitions are practise for writing her best-seller. 
​Robyn Prokop
Secretary Robyn is a full time writer these days, having given up her career as a teacher and high school principal. As well as writing copy for a local design company, she writes children's storybooks and epic fantasy. She is currently working on the third book of her award-winning series for Young Adults. Robyn believes that our Top of the South Branch plays an important role in supporting local writers.
Trish Palmer
Trish Palmer became branch treasurer in May 2019. She writes to cause a smile, or provoke thought, through her plays and short-stories. She divides her time between farming, friends, family and writing, in a quiet valley south of Nelson. She completed a Diploma in Creative Writing in 2018.
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Kerry Sunderland
Kerry Sunderland is coordinator of the Nelson Arts Festival’s literary programme, Pukapuka Talks, and works as a freelance writer and editor. She also runs residential retreats and short courses in creative nonfiction.  She has a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from Victoria University of Wellington. ​
​Mary Prendergast 
Mary Prendergast writes short stories which reflect her West Coast upbringing and social work career. She is a graduate of Hagley Writers College, Christchurch and founding member of Mawhera Writers, Greymouth. Mary has a strong sense of social justice and thinks, ‘community’. She has written human interest stories and news items for community newspapers. She is currently working on her short story anthology, which she hopes to publish in 2021.

 

Brian Dillon-Phillips
Brian has worked as a copywriter, a communications specialist, a technical writer, a web content specialist, and pretty much everything that has a strong writing component in the job description. He has trained hundreds of people how to write in a business/Government context, and a few in fiction. He has also mentored a handful of people in the dark arts of selling books through Amazon. For the past four years, Brian has been a full time novelist. He writes under pen names and has completed more than 30 books.
Ali Brown
Ali has a background in not-for-profit management and employment consultancy and writes instructional books on flax weaving, publishing them through the family-owned business Browncraft Ltd and selling them online through her own website. She has been editor of the NZ Lacemakers magazine and has contributed articles to this and other magazines. Ali is a keen learner of te reo Māori and is currently having her flax weaving website translated into that language.
Our Strategic Plan 2020-23