Judith White

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

White, Judith (1948 - ) is a fiction writer who has won awards for her short fiction, including the 1988 BNZ Katherine Mansfield Centenary Award for a collection of short stories. She has twice won the Auckland Star short story competition, in 1987 and 1990. In 1996, White was the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellow.

White's first collection of short fiction Visiting Ghosts (1991) was shortlisted for the fiction section of what is now known as the Montana New Zealand Books Awards. Her novel Across the Dreaming Night (1999) is shortlisted for the fiction section of the 2000 Montana New Zealand Book Awards.

In the Sunday Star Times Iain Sharp writes: 'White is second to none when it comes to depicting states of anxiety, both comic and poignant. And the brilliance with which she enters into her characters' aberrant states of mind, signals a major talent.'

Elspeth Sandys writes in the New Zealand Herald: 'Across the Dreaming Night remains in my mind as a fine piece of writing, haunting and sad, with occasional flashes of humour and a marvellously unexpected ending.'

The Elusive Language of Ducks was published by Random House NZ in 2013. Stephanie Johnson reviewed the book for the NZ Herald, 'Judith White’s second novel ... is a how-to manual – how to love, how to grieve, how to pick up your life after death and go on. Wry and clever, The Elusive Language of Ducks transcends its bleak theme to leave us as thoughtful and questioning as its gentle protagonist.'