Paula Boock (born 1964) is a New Zealand writer and editor.

Biography

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 ...

, Boock is a member of a sporting family. She is the sister of four brothers,Paula Boock
," Longacre Press. Retrieved 15 March 2013. among them former New Zealand cricket representative

Stephen Boock Stephen Lewis Boock (born 20 September 1951) is a former New Zealand national cricket team, New Zealand cricketer who played 30 Test cricket, Tests and 14 One Day Internationals. He is the brother of sports journalist Richard Boock (biographer ...

and sports journalist Richard Boock, and has herself represented her province of Otago at cricket. She studied 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 ...

, after which she began working as an editor and publisher, co-founding Longacre Press in the city in 1994.Paula Boock Biography

NZ On Screen NZ On Screen is a state-funded online promotional showcase of New Zealand television and film. Funded by NZ On Air, it provides free worldwide access to NZ-produced television, film and music videos. Content is streamed and the webpages provide ...

. Retrieved 15 March 2013. Boock's early writing consisted of plays and short stories, but she turned to novel-writing shortly after leaving university. Many of Boock's novels and television scripts are aimed primarily at the young adult market, and have been since her earliest writing. Her first novel, ''Out Walked Mel'' was published in 1991 and won the AIM Best First Book Award. Other awards followed for later books including ''Sasscat to Win'' (1993), ''Home Run'' (1996) and ''Dare, Truth, or Promise'', the latter of which won the 1998

New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are a series of literary awards presented annually to recognise excellence in children and young adult's literature in New Zealand. The awards began in 1982 as the New Zealand Governme ...

, and was shortlisted in the United States for a 2000 Lambda Literary Award for

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

-themed fiction. Boock began writing for the screen in 1995 with an episode of drama series ''

Cover Story Cover story or Cover Story may refer to: * A magazine or newspaper article whose subject appears on that issue's front cover, and may be profiled in depth. * A fictitious explanation intended to hide one's real motive; see disinformation, cover-u ...

''. She began scriptwriting more in earnest in 2000, becoming one of four writers working on Gibson Group series ''

The Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city ...

''. An episode of this series co-written by Boock and Kathryn Burnett won her a Best Drama Script Award at the

2003 New Zealand Television Awards The 2003 New Zealand Television Awards was staged on Friday 22 August 2003 in Auckland, New Zealand. Honouring excellence in New Zealand television for the previous year, the awards ceremony was hosted by TV presenter Jason Gunn and was sponsore ...

. Bocck's later television work includes scripts for ''

The Insiders Guide to Happiness ''The Insiders Guide To Happiness'' is a New Zealand drama series that explores the lives of a group of six previously unconnected people. Each life is connected by a bizarre car accident, the outcome of which forces them to examine and explore t ...

'' and its prequel, ''

The Insider's Guide To Love The Insiders Guide To Love is a New Zealand drama series directed by Brendan Donovan which went to air on TVNZ from 2005 to 2006. Plot The series explores the lives of a group of seven previously unconnected people. Each is implicated in a bi ...

'', and editing and script consultancy work on both ''

Bro'Town ''bro'Town'' is a New Zealand adult animated comedy television series and sitcom that ran from 2004 to 2009. It starred David Fane, Mario Gaoa, Shimpal Lelisi and Oscar Kightley. Overview The main characters in the series are five 14 year o ...

'' and ''

Burying Brian ''Burying Brian'' is a New Zealand television miniseries produced by Eyeworks Touchdown which premiered on Television New Zealand's TVNZ 1, TV One on 2 July 2008, and ran for 6 episodes. The series is about Jodie and her three female friends. At ...

''. In 2007, Boock and Donna Malane inaugurated Lippy Pictures, a production company which was responsible for the children's time-travel drama ''

Time Trackers ''Time Trackers'' is a children's television series produced for the Seven Network in Australia and TV2 in New Zealand. The 13 half-hour episodes first screened in 2008. The series is a co-production of Gibson Group in New Zealand and Taylor Med ...

'' and tele-movie '' Until Proven Innocent''. ''Time Trackers'' was nominated for best children's drama at the 2009 Australian Film Institute Awards, and ''Until Proven Innocent'' was a multiple award winner at New Zealand's

2009 Qantas Film and Television Awards The 2009 Qantas Film and Television Awards were held on Saturday 5 September at the Civic Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand. The craft awards were presented in a separate awards lunch at the Civic Theatre Friday 4 September. Highlights from the ...

. Later scripts co-authored by Boock for Lippy have included '' Bloodlines'', another award-winning series, and '' Tangiwai - A Love Story'', a dramatization of the 1953 Tangiwai train disaster. Boock was the 1994 Writer in Residence at the

Dunedin College of Education The Dunedin College of Education (''Te Kura Akau Taitoka'', also known as ''Dunedin Teachers' College'') was a former teacher training college in Dunedin, New Zealand. Founded in 1876, the college was the oldest teacher training college in New Zeal ...

and in 1999, was named as the

's Burns Fellow. She was also named as 2009 Writer in Residence at Victoria University.Paula Boock
"

New Zealand Book Council Read NZ Te Pou Muramura (formerly the New Zealand Book Council) is a not-for-profit organisation that presents a wide range of programmes to promote books and reading in New Zealand. History It was established in 1972 as a response to UNESCO's ...

. Retrieved 15 March 2013.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boock, Paula 1964 births Living people New Zealand women novelists New Zealand screenwriters New Zealand women screenwriters Writers from Dunedin New Zealand LGBT writers 20th-century New Zealand novelists New Zealand children's writers New Zealand women children's writers 20th-century New Zealand women writers New Zealand women cricketers