OUR TEAM
HEATHER MCQUILLAN
Director, PD Provider, Tutor
Adv Dip Tchg, B.Ed, Master of Creative Writing with distinction
Heather is an award-winning writer of novels for young people, short stories and flash fiction.
GAIL INGRAM
Tutor, Editor
Gail Zing (aka Gail Ingram) is an author of three collections of poetry, including Some Bird, selected for Best NZ Books 2024 by The NZ Listener. Winner of both Caselberg and NZPS International Poetry Competitions and placed and shortlisted for many others including the 2025 Fish Poetry Prize and the Palette Publishing chapbook prize, her work has been published in Poetry Aotearoa, Cordite Poetry Review, Poems for the Planet, Stone Circle Review, Landfall and many others. She is a creative-writing teacher and editor, and in 2025 received a residency at Robert Lord House in Dunedin.
JOSIAH MORGAN
Tutor
Josiah Morgan (he/him, Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Maniapoto) is a writer and actor based in Ōtautahi, Christchurch. He is the author of five books, including i'm still growing (Dead Bird Books, 2024) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (now back in print with Index Press 2026), which was also performed as a six-hour long performance artwork at Auckland Pride 2024. He can be seen regularly on stages and in galleries around Aotearoa, with his play Faust On Trial having premiered in November 2025 before touring. His work has been widely published across New Zealand and the United States, and his work has been performed in New Zealand, Australia, Brazil and the United States.
CLAIRE WRIGHT
Tutor
CL
Bachelor in Creative Writing, Substitute teacher certificate ( Cal)
By day, Claire writes guidance documents. By night, she writes funky horror, fantasy, and sci-fi stories, with a splash of romance. Currently, she is working on two projects: a new urban fantasy novel and an interactive fiction novel.
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DESNA WALLACE
Tutor
BA English, Dip Children's Lit, Dip ILS, NZ Certificate in Library and Information Services for Children and Teens.
Desna is a poet, blogger and children's book writer (Canterbury Quake my NZ Story). She wins awards in both micro and flash fiction.
Annabel Wilson
Tutor
Annabel Wilson is a writer from Wānaka, currently living in Waitaha Canterbury. Her work has been published in journals in New Zealand and overseas and her first book, Aspiring Daybook: The diary of Elsie Winslow was longlisted for the Ockhams (2019). Annabel has a PhD in Creative Writing from Massey University, in which she investigated hybrid forms of writing.
PHILOMENA JOHNSON
Tutor
BA DipEd (Hons)
Philomena is a graduate of Hagley Writers’ Institute. She is a writer of poetry and is currently working on a verse novel for younger readers.
Melanie Koster
Tutor
Melanie Koster is an award winning writer for children. She has been shortlisted several times for the Joy Cowley Award, I was the winner in 2022. She is the author of several picture books and has been published in The School Magazine (Australia).
Ray Shipley
Tutor
Ray Shipley is an Ōtautahi-based comedian, poet, marriage celebrant, and writing tutor. In 2019, Ray was nominated for the Billy T Award, the biggest award for the rising stars of comedy in Aotearoa. Ray has won the Christchurch Poetry Slam four times, and placed third nationally in 2018. Their poetry can be found in the anthologies Solid Air (UQP, 2019), and in Out Here (AUP, 2021), among others. Since 2020, Ray has been running Late Night Poetry Hour - a celebration of poetry and feelings and staying up past bedtime - monthly at Little Andromeda Theatre.
Elizabeth Steel
Tutor
Elizabeth grew up with Write On and returned as a tutor in 2024.
Elizabeth has been studying Biological Sciences at UC and is keen to resume her creative writing.
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RACHEL DOUGLASS
Online Tutor
Poet, Rachel Douglass, has been with Write On the longest- starting as a student (back in the day), then as a tutor, magazine editor and now managing our lively online class!
Harley Bell
Tutor
Harley Bell is a poet, writer and editor from Aotearoa, New Zealand. He has been published in various journals. He spends his time in cafes, libraries, forests and parks. He draws inspiration from the conversation between the natural world and cityscapes. He isn’t sure why he wrote this in the third person.
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Sarah Greig
Tutor
Sarah Greig a freelance illustrator/designer/artist. She was the inaugural winner of the Hachette Margaret Mahy Illustration prize and the illustrator of several fiction and non-fiction picture books.
Kate Rennie
Tutor
Kate Rennie