Emma Neale is the author of six novels, six poetry collections and a collection of short fiction. She received the Lauris Edmond Memorial Award for a Distinguished Contribution to New Zealand Poetry 2020. Her most recent novel, Billy Bird (2016) was short-listed for the Acorn Prize at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards and long-listed for the Dublin International Literary Award. Her first collection of short stories, The Pink Jumpsuit (Quentin Wilson Publishing, 2021), was long-listed for the Acorn Prize. She has two sons and lives in Ōtepoti/Dunedin, New Zealand, where she works as a freelance editor.