Maria Konopnicka

Writer of lyrics, poems, dramatic sketches, novels, and commentaries on literature, who translated many masterpieces of French, Czech and German literature.

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Esther Glen

One of New Zealand’s finest writers for children. She has been commemorated since 1945 by the Esther Glen Award, which is given by the New Zealand Library Association for only ‘the most distinguished’ contributions to New Zealand literature for children.

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Janet Paterson Frame

For more than 20 years Frame had been annually nominated by PEN (the New Zealand Society of Authors) for the Nobel Prize for Literature. She was shortlisted twice, the second time in 2003, the year she was diagnosed with leukaemia. That year, along with Hone Tuwhare and her biographer Michael King, Frame was the recipient of an inaugural Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement.

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Beverly Cleary

Beverly Cleary created some of the most beloved children’s book characters of the 20th century. Writing about the children in her own neighborhood, Cleary’s stories of the rambunctious youth of Klickitat and Tillamook Streets have sold more than 91 million copies and changed the genre. For more than half a century, she wrote stories that allowed kids to see themselves in the books.

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