Blue, Blue Christmas

Anna Coddington

Anna Coddington (Ngati Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa, Ngati Whakaue) is an award-winning New Zealand songwriter, singer and producer, with four critically acclaimed studio albums to date. In 2022 she won the Waiata Maori Music Award for Best Maori Album in Te Reo for her EP Mana-Wa-Hine, featuring a collection of waiata performed in te reo Maori. Her songwriting prowess has seen her in the prestigious Silver Scroll songwriting award Top 20 list four times. She also has an MA in Linguistics, is currently studying for a law degree, and is a professional voiceover artist – so she justifiably considers herself a word nerd! A mother to two children with her partner Dick Johnson, also a musician, Anna’s writing for children carries a deeper mission of spreading awareness of kaupapa Maori.

Story Hemi-Morehouse

Story Hemi-Morehouse (Ngati Koata, Ngati Kuia, Ngati Toa Rangatira) was born in Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland) and moved to Australia when she was young. She was always obsessed with comics and drawing and turned her love of illustrating into a career. Story’s first published book, Mokopuna Matatini/The Greatest Haka Festival on Earth by Pania Tahau-Hodges, was shortlisted for four awards in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2022. She has since added several more picture books to her portfolio and in 2023 Kua Whetūrangitia a Koro/How My Koro Became a Star, with author Brianne Te Paa, was a finalist in the Best Picture Book and won Te Kura Pounamu Award. Story lives and works on Yugumbeh Country (Gold Coast, Australia) and, thanks to the flexibilty of freelance work, also gets to spend regular time in Aotearoa.