About Judith
Judith White spends much of her time going round in circles looking for excuses, busying herself with reasons not to write. All she wants to do is write, all she wants to do is not write. But when she does, when she’s sitting there working in her notebooks or at the computer, the measuring of time stops, and she is grounded in the here and now, finally knowing who she is.
Writing is her means of expression. Writing is the window through which she gazes, to make sense of the world through story. Her writing allows her to cover herself with feathers and leaves and lichen and broken shells. She can crawl undetected through the undergrowth to where characters skulk in murky fog, waiting to be summoned to play their part.
Judith White is the author of two novels – The Elusive Language of Ducks and Across the Dreaming Night – and a collection of short stories, Visiting Ghosts.
Her stories have been broadcast by Radio New Zealand, and widely published in anthologies. She was awarded Creative New Zealand grants towards the writing of each of these books.
She has been facilitating creative writing courses for over two decades: Auckland University (Continuing Education); Rangitoto College Community Education; Toi Ora Live Art Trust (for adults who have come in contact with mental health services); Auckland Unitec; as well as various other one-off workshops. She has worked as a one-on-one mentor for the AUT Creative Writing Masters (MCW) programme, and for the NZSA mentorship scheme.
She was secretary of the Auckland Branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors for several years in the late 1980s.