Tessa Dudertrained as a journalist and raised four daughters before publishing her firstnovel in her late thirties. Some fifty books have followed, for both adult andyoung readers: novels (notably the best-seller Alex quartet), shortstory collections, non-fiction, biographies, anthologies and plays. Her writingshows her deep love of the sea – in 2013 she crossed the Tasman Sea under sailon the tall ship Spirit of New Zealand - and a life-long interest inearly New Zealand history, particularly of the Auckland region. Her awards haveincluded multiple children's book prizes, the University of Waikato writers'residency, the Katherine Mansfield fellowship to Menton, France, an Artists toAntarctica fellowship, the OBE and an Honorary Doctorate from the University ofWaikato. She lives in the sea-girt city of Auckland, New Zealand.
