Tessa Duder trained as a journalist and raised four daughters before publishing her first novel in her late thirties. Some fifty books have followed, for both adult and young readers: novels (notably the best-seller Alex quartet), short story collections, non-fiction, biographies, anthologies and plays.

Her writing shows her deep love of the sea – in 2013 she crossed the Tasman Sea under sail on the tall ship Spirit of New Zealand - and a life-long interest in early New Zealand history, particularly of the Auckland region.

Her awards have included multiple children's book prizes, the University of Waikato writers' residency, the Katherine Mansfield fellowship to Menton, France, an Artists to Antarctica fellowship, the OBE and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Waikato. She lives in the sea-girt city of Auckland, New Zealand.