Diana Noonan (born 7 January 1960) is a New Zealand children's author. In 2022 she was awarded the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal for her outstanding contributions to New Zealand literature for young people.

Biography

Noonan was born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

and attended Waihola Primary School and

Tokomairiro High School Tokomairiro High School is a co-educational, state secondary school in Milton, New Zealand, Milton, New Zealand, often simply known as "Toko". History Founded in 1856 as Tokomairiro School, it is one of New Zealand's oldest schools. It was origi ...

. She completed a degree in English at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

in 1980. She completed a teaching diploma the following year and began her career as a teacher. She taught in secondary schools for four years then became a full-time writer. Noonan was Writer in Residence at the Dunedin College of Education in 1993, and was the editor of the ''

New Zealand School Journal The ''New Zealand School Journal'' is a periodical children's educational publication in New Zealand. Founded in 1907 by the Department of Education, it is one of the world's longest-running publications for children. Since 2013 it has been pub ...

'' for eight years. Following the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

Noonan wrote a children's picture book, ''Quaky Cat'', about a cat's experience of the earthquakes. She donated all royalties to the Christchurch earthquake appeal, raising over $150,000. She and the book's illustrator

Gavin Bishop Gavin John Bishop (born 1946) is an author and illustrator, from Invercargill, New Zealand. He is known for illustrating books from prominent New Zealand authors, including Joy Cowley and Margaret Mahy. Bishop's first published picture book was ...

received the North West Christchurch Award 2012 in appreciation of her donation.

Awards and recognition

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noonan, Diana 1960 births Living people University of Otago alumni People educated at Tokomairiro High School Writers from Dunedin New Zealand children's writers