Gaelyn Gordon

Gaelyn Gordon (; 26 November 1939 – 17 May 1997) was a New Zealand novelist, children's writer and schoolteacher. In a ten-year period between retiring as a teacher and her early death, she wrote a number of fantasy novels for young adults, picture books for young children, and crime novels for adults. After her death, the Gaelyn Gordon Award was established in her memory.

Early life and teaching career Gordon was born in Hāwera, in the Taranaki region of New Zealand, on 26 November 1939. She attended New Plymouth Girls' High School, followed by the University of Canterbury and Christchurch Teachers' College. She was an English and drama teacher at Hamilton Girls' High School until 1987, when she began to suffer from Ménière's disease; she left teaching at this time and became a full-time writer. which include Stonelight (1988), Mindfire (1991) and Riversong (1995), a trilogy of fantasy novels for young adults which feature elements of Māori mythology,

She wrote a number of picture books for young children,

Gordon's novels for adults included the blackly comic crime novels Above Suspicion (1990), narrated by a murder victim, Strained Relations (1991) and Deadlines (1996). These novels feature the fictional detective Sergeant Rangi, described by the Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature as a "comic mixture" of Hercule Poirot, Don Juan and Billy T. James. Her publisher Paul Bradwell said on her death that she was "seen by many as the best author never to win the Children's Book of the Year award, although shortlisted three years in succession".

In 1999, the Children's Literature Foundation established the Gaelyn Gordon Award, presented annually in New Zealand to a children's book that has not previously won a major award but that has been popular with children and has "stood the test of time". The first winner of the award was Elsie Locke in 1999, for The Runaway Settlers.

Selected works Books for young adults Stonelight (1988) Tales from Another Now (1989) Several Things are Alive and Well and Living in Alfred Brown's Head (1990) Mindfire (1991) Prudence M. Muggeridge, Damp Rat (1991) Tripswitch (1992) Take Me to Your Leaders (1993) Riversong (1995) The Other Worlds of Andrew Griffin (1995)

Picture books Duckat (illustrated by Chris Gaskin, 1991) The Fortunate Flats (illustrated by John Tarlton, 1995) The Life-size Inflatable Whale (illustrated by John Tarlton, 1998)

Books for adults Above Suspicion (1990) Strained Relations (1991) Last Summer (1993) Fortune's Fool (1994) Deadlines (1996) Marj's Story (1996)