Fleur Beale started writing in the 80s when she was teaching in a secondary school and couldn’t find stories that resonated with the kids in her classes because there were almost no books about NZ kids and their lives. Writing is addictive so she’s kept on doing it. She has written over 30 novels for young adults and mid-grade readers.

Beale is the only writer to have twice won the Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award for a Much-Loved Book: with Slide the Corner in 2007, and I Am Not Esther in 2009. She won the Esther Glen Award for distinguished contribution to children’s literature for Juno of Taris in the 2009 LIANZA Children’s Book Awards. Fierce September won the YA category in the 2011 NZ Post Children’s Book Awards and the LIANZA Young Adult Award in 2011. In 2012 she won the Margaret Mahy Medal for her outstanding contribution to children’s writing and in 2015 she was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Verb Festival 2021 Appearances:
Care & Calling: Fleur Beale and Rachel Kerr, Sat 6 Nov, 11am.
Writing for Young Adults: with Fleur Beale (workshop), Sun 7 Nov, 12:30pm.

Books