Maria Gill
BornOctober 1961
Auckland, New Zealand
OccupationWriter
NationalityNew Zealand
Website
mariagill.co.nz

Maria Gill is a writer of children's non-fiction books, educational resources and freelance articles. A number of her books have been shortlisted for or have won awards, including Anzac Heroes which won the Non-fiction Award and the Supreme Book of the Year prize in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults in 2016. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand.

Biography

Maria Gill was born in October 1961 in Auckland, New Zealand.[1] She was educated at schools in Auckland and Southport, Gold Coast, and also studied by correspondence while her family was living in a caravan and travelling around Australia.[2] After leaving school and doing office work for a few years, Maria worked in a variety of jobs, including barmaid, nanny, shepherdess and grape picker, while she travelled overseas,[3][4] visiting countries such as England, India, Nepal and China.[5] She returned to New Zealand and studied at the University of Auckland and Auckland College of Education,[6] graduating with a Bachelor of Education degree and Teaching Diploma. She taught for about ten years in primary and intermediate schools.[2] Later she also gained a Graduate Diploma of Journalism Studies from Massey University.[5] In 2021 Gill completed a master's degree at Auckland University of Technology.[7]

Maria had wanted to write from childhood and first began to do so seriously when her children were small.[2] She has a special interest in themes to do with native wildlife, conservation and the environment, people, history and war.[6][8] She has also written many books and resources for the educational market.[9]

In 2013-2014, Maria lectured and tutored a Writing for Children paper for Massey University.[10] She co-wrote the Coursera online course Writing for Young Readers: Opening the Treasure Chest for the Commonwealth Education Trust.[11] She also organised two touring exhibitions of displays about war-related children's books: What Lies Beneath, which travelled around New Zealand,[12] and Anzac Stories: Behind the Pages, which featured in libraries in Brisbane, Newcastle, Canberra, Hobart and other parts of Australia.[13][14][15]

Maria visits schools as part of the Writers in Schools programme and is a popular speaker at literary festivals. She appeared at the SCBWI conference, Sydney, 2012 and 2016[4] and the Auckland Writers Festival in 2018.[16] She gives author talks and workshops for several Speakers’ Agencies in New Zealand and Australia.[17]

Awards and prizes 

Many of her books have been selected as Storylines Notable Books and shortlisted for awards such as the LIANZA Elsie Locke Non-Fiction Award and the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards.

New Zealand Hall of Fame won the Children's Choice Award in the non-fiction category of the 2012 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards,[18] and Anzac Heroes won the Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction and the Supreme Book of the Year prize in the 2016 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.[19] In 2020 she was awarded the Margaret Mahy Medal in recognition of her lifetime contribution to children's literature.[20]

Bibliography 

  • The King's Medal ill. Alistair Hughes (Upstart Press, 2021)
  • Remarkable Animal Stories from New Zealand and Australia ill. Emma Huia Lovegrove (Scholastic, 2021)
  • New Zealand Disasters: Our response, resilience and recovery ill. Marco Ivancic (Scholastic, 2021)
  • Ice Breaker! ill. Alistair Hughes (Upstart Press, 2020)
  • On the Brink (New Holland, 2019)
  • Kate Sheppard: Leading the way for Women (Scholastic, 2018)
  • Earthquakes! Shaking New Zealand (New Holland, 2018)
  • Anzac Animals (Scholastic, 2018)
  • Toroa’s Journey (Potton & Burton, 2017)
  • Abel Tasman: Mapping the Southern Lands (Scholastic, 2017)
  • Volcanoes: DK Find Out! (Dorling & Kindersley, 2016)
  • Anzac Heroes ill. Marco Ivancic (Scholastic, 2016)
  • New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame ill. Marco Ivancic (New Holland, 2014)
  • Operation Nest Egg Chick ill. Bruce Potter (Long White Cloud Books, 2014; Pixel Books, 2013)
  • The Last of Maui’s Dolphins ill. Bruce Potter (New Holland, 2014)
  • Running Our Country: A look inside New Zealand’s Government ill. Malcolm Evans (New Holland, 2013, reprinted 2018)
  • Eruption! Discovering New Zealand Volcanoes (New Holland, 2012)
  • The Call of the Kokako ill. Heather Arnold (New Holland, 2011)
  • New Zealand’s Hall of Fame: 50 Remarkable Kiwis ill. Bruce Potter (New Holland, 2011)
  • Rangitoto ill. Heather Arnold (Penguin, 2009; Long White Cloud Books, 2014; Pixel Books, 2013)
  • Save Our Seas ill. Vivienne Lingard (New Holland, 2009)
  • Eco-agents mission: Save our Planet (New Holland, 2009)
  • Dogs on the Job (Reed, 2008)
  • Operation Nest Egg (Reed, 2007)
  • Bird’s-eye View (Penguin Books, 2006)

References

  1. ↑ "Maria Gill". Storylines. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "Authors & Illustrators: Maria Gill". Scholastic. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  3. ↑ "Mansfield Questionnaire: Maria Gill". New Zealand Book Council Te Kaunihera Pukapuka o Aotearoa. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  4. 1 2 "The Resumé". Maria Gill: children's author, freelance writer. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  5. 1 2 Gill, Maria (December 2011). "Following my Instincts". Defining NZ. Issue 20: 34–37.
  6. 1 2 "Gill, Maria". New Zealand Book Council Te Kaunihera Pukapuka o Aotearoa. June 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  7. ↑ Gill, Maria (2021). A Lonely Courage Behind Enemy Lines (Masters thesis). Tuwhera Open Access, Auckland University of Technology. hdl:10292/13987.
  8. ↑ "Writer Interview: Maria Gill and Glyn Harper". The Sapling. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  9. ↑ "Maria Gill". The New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  10. ↑ "Maria Gill". Virtual Learning Network. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  11. ↑ "Writing for Young Readers: Opening the Treasure Chest". Manatu Taonga: Ministry for Culture & Heritage. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  12. ↑ "What Lies Beneath: the exhibition: showcasing the inspiration behind children's books". What Lies Beneath. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  13. ↑ "Home". Anzac Stories: Behind the Pages exhibition. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  14. ↑ Masson, Sophie (7 November 2016). "Anzac Stories: Behind the Pages Exhibition and my part in it". Feathers of the Firebird: Sophie Masson's writing blog. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  15. ↑ Landsberry, Belinda (23 April 2017). "'Anzac Ted' part of the 2017 'Anzac Stories: Behind the Pages' exhibition". Belinda Landsberry: author & illustrator. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  16. ↑ "Writers: Maria Gill". Auckland Writers Festival. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  17. ↑ "Our Speakers: Maria Gill". Speakers Ink. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  18. ↑ "New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults – HELL Children's Choice Award". Christchurch City Libraries Nga Kete Wananga-o-Otautahi. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  19. ↑ "New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults: Past Winners: by Year". NZ Book Awards Trust. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  20. ↑ "Gill wins 2020 Margaret Mahy Medal". Books+Publishing. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
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