Anna Mackenzie (writer)

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Anna Mackenzie (born 22 April 1963) is a New Zealand writer who creates historical, speculative, and contemporary fiction for adults and young adults. She is also an editor, mentor, teacher of creative writing, and a public speaker at festivals and in schools. Her work has earned many awards.

She was born in Palmerston North, New Zealand. She loved reading from a young age and wrote her first stories when she was seven. She began writing for children while running reading groups at her children's school. She has a psychology degree and helped run Victoria University's student newspaper, Salient. She has worked in publishing and held varied jobs abroad, including nannying in London and hiring fishing boats on Scotland’s West Coast. She now lives on a farm in Hawke’s Bay.

Mackenzie has been involved with the New Zealand Society of Authors, serving as Vice-President and Central Districts Regional Delegate. In addition to writing, she edits magazines, mentors writers, teaches creative writing, and speaks at schools and at literary festivals. Her nine novels have won awards such as the NZ Post Honour Award, Sir Julius Vogel Award, iBooks Top Five, and Storylines Notable Book Awards. The Sea-wreck Stranger won the White Raven Award for outstanding children's literature. She also received a writing residency in Belgium in 2013 and spoke at the This Way Up festival in London in 2014.