Leonie Agnew facts for kids
Leonie Agnew is a talented writer and teacher who creates amazing books for children. Many of her stories have won or been nominated for important awards. She won the Tom Fitzgibbon Award in 2010 and several New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards in 2012. She also won the Master of the Inkpot Competition in 2015 and the Esther Glen Award in 2022. Leonie has even had a special writing time at the University of Otago. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand.
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Her Life and Work
Leonie Agnew was born in Auckland and grew up in Howick. She went to Baradene College for four years. Then she studied at Howick College for a year.
Leonie has a degree in English Literature. She also has a special diploma in teaching. She used to write ads for a living. Now, she is a writer, a primary school teacher, and a tutor who teaches creative writing. She lives in Auckland.
Leonie enjoys reading books by other children's writers. Some of her favorites are Frank Cottrell Boyce, Patrick Ness, Margaret Mahy, Roald Dahl, and James Norcliffe. She especially likes James Norcliffe's book, The Loblolly Boy.
Many of Leonie's books have been nominated for or have won awards. Her work has also appeared in the New Zealand School Journal. Some of her stories have even been played on Radio New Zealand. She has attended many literary events. These include the Waiheke Literary Festival and the Auckland Writers Festival.
Leonie Agnew joined the Storylines Management Committee in 2016. She helped plan the Storylines National Children's Writers and Illustrators’ Hui in Auckland in 2017. She was also the main organizer for the Storylines New Zealand Writers and Illustrators’ Hui in Auckland in 2022.
Award-Winning Books
Leonie Agnew has won several important awards for her books. These awards celebrate great writing for young people.
Super Finn's Success
Leonie Agnew won the Storylines Tom Fitzgibbon Award in 2010. This award helped her first book, Super Finn, get published. Super Finn then won many more awards in 2012. It won the Junior Fiction Section and the Children's Choice Junior Fiction section. It also won the Best First Book Award at the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards. The book was also listed in the Storylines Notable Book Awards 2012. It was also nominated for the LIANZA Children's Book Awards 2012.
Other Noteworthy Books
Her picture book, The Importance of Green, was nominated for the Joy Cowley Award.
Conrad Cooper’s Last Stand won the Esther Glen Medal in 2015. This book is about a young Pākehā boy learning about history and identity. Leonie got the idea for this book from a university class.
In 2015, Leonie Agnew won the Master of the Inkpot Competition. This competition was run by a UK publisher called David Fickling Books. She won with her story, The Impossible Boy. This book was a finalist in the Junior Fiction Section of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults in 2017.
The Memory Thief won the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction in 2022. This was part of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
Leonie Agnew also won the Storylines Tessa Duder Award in 2022. She won it for her young adult story called "The impossible story of Hannah Kemp".
Writing Residencies
In 2013, Leonie Agnew was chosen as the University of Otago College of Education / Creative New Zealand Children's Writer in Residence. This meant she had a special time at the university to focus on her writing.
