Gavin Bishop, writer and illustrator of more than 20 children's books, was born in Invercargill, New Zealand. He studied paint at the Canterbury University School of Fine Arts in Christchurch.
Bishop has been a professor and lectured extensively throughout New Zealand. He lectured in China at the invitation of UNESCO.
In addition to his books, which often reflect his Maori heritage, Bishop has written two ballets and two TV series based on his first book, Bidibidi. He is the winner of the Russell Clark Medal for Illustration (1982), the Grand Prix in the Japanese Noma Concours for Children's Book Illustration (1984), the New Zealand Children's Picture Book of the Year (1982, 1984), the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year, and the 2018 NZ Book Awards for Children and YA, Elsie Locke Award for Nonfiction for his title - Aotearoa: The New Zealand Story (2018).
He will be featured at the annual Storylines Festival of New Zealand Children's Writers and Illustrators 2015. His title Quaky Cat Helps Out made The New Zealand Best Seller List 2015.
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