Nicky Pellegrino (born 1964) is a novelist. She is an English-born New Zealander of Italian descent and lives and writes in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand. Her novels have been translated into 12 languages.

Early life

Pellegrino was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in the north-west of England to an Italian father and English mother. The family spent summer holidays with her father's siblings in southern Italy, experiences which later became the inspiration for some of her books. She studied English at the

University of Lancaster , mottoeng = Truth lies open to all , established = , endowment = £13.9 million , budget = £317.9 million , type = Public , city = Bailrigg, City of Lancaster , country = England , coor = , campus = Bailrigg , faculty = 1 ...

, completing a BA (Honours) degree

Career

After graduating, Pellegrino moved to London and worked on women’s and entertainment magazines. In 1994 she moved to Auckland and became deputy editor, and then editor of '' New Zealand Woman’s Weekly''. She has also worked as the editor of a bridal magazine, and was the books editor for the '' Herald on Sunday'' newspaper for seven years. Pellegrino writes articles for the ''

New Zealand Listener The ''New Zealand Listener'' is a weekly New Zealand magazine that covers the political, cultural and literary life of New Zealand by featuring a variety of topics, including current events, politics, social issues, health, technology, arts, f ...

'', ''Next Magazine'', ''NZ Gardener'' and ''Food Magazine'', and has a regular book column in the ''New Zealand Woman’s Weekly''. She began writing her first novel in 2001, when her friend

Angela D'Audney Angela Louise D'Audney (née Cerdan, 26 August 1944 – 6 February 2002) was a New Zealand television news anchor and actress. She was the first woman to regularly anchor nationwide news bulletins on New Zealand television in 1973, and continued ...

was diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of 56. Pellegrino was moved to begin on a long-held dream of writing a novel, and wrote ''Delicious'' while co-writing D'Audney's autobiography.

Publications

* ''Angela: A Wonderful Life!'' (2001), co-author with Angela D'Audney, Penguin * ''Delicious'' (2005), Orion Books * ''Summer at the Villa Rosa'' (2007), Orion Books * ''The Italian Wedding'' (2009), Orion Books * ''Recipe for Life'' (2010), Orion Books * ''The Food of Love Cookery School'' (2013), Orion Books * ''One Summer in Venice'' (2015), Orion Books * ''The Villa Girls'' (2011), Orion Books * ''When in Rome'' (2012), Orion Books * ''Under Italian Skies'' (2016), Orion Books * ''A Dream Of Italy'' (2019), Orion Books

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pellegrino, Nicky 1964 births Living people Novelists from Liverpool Alumni of Lancaster University English people of Italian descent English emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand people of Italian descent 21st-century New Zealand writers New Zealand editors New Zealand magazine editors New Zealand columnists