Ko Taranaki maunga

Ko Waiwhakahio awa

Nō Ngāti te Whiti o Te Ātiawa au

Ko Lauren Keenan tōku ingoa

I tipu ake au ki Manawatū, engari, Te Whanganui-a-Tara tōku kāinga ināianei

 

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Kia ora - I'm Lauren, I call Wellington, New Zealand home, where I live with my husband, two kids, and two cats. 

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My goal 

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A massive history nerd, I want history to be interesting, exciting and accessible to a range of audiences, kids and adults alike.  It's this goal that has motivated me to present our past in a range of diverse formats, because, when seeking to understand what has come before us, not everyone wants to consume information in the same sort of way.

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My writing

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I write adult historical fiction, middle-grade historical fiction, short stories, historical non-fiction, and anything else that tickles my fancy. 

I'm the author of The Space Between (Penguin Random House, 2024),  Amorangi and Millie's Trip Through Time (Huia, 2022), Rimu: The Tree of Time (Huia, 2024) and The 52 Week Project: How I Fixed My Life by Trying a New Thing Every Week for a Year (Allen & Unwin, 2020).

 

My first historical non-fiction, Toitū Te Whenua: Places and People of the New Zealand Wars (Penguin Random House) was released in March 2025.

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I'm currently working on two more historical fiction novels, one of which will be out in 2026.

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My study 

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I'm currently in my second year studying for a Diploma in Te Reo Māori at Massey University. It feels like something that has come 20 years too late and at just the right time all at once. 

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My first degree was a Master of Arts in New Zealand History with a smattering of International Relations, Māori Studies and Spanish thrown into the mix. Although I played so much Tetris I really ought to count that as my minor. 

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Other random factoids  

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 Over the past couple of years I have tried 29 new flavours of sweet pie. A #lifegoal is to discover even more types. Wish me luck.

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I love travel, and have lived in Italy, the UK and the USA (twice). But I always love coming home to where I'm from and my wider whānau.  

However, my other #lifegoal is to visit 50 countries before I am 50. At this rate I'll have more luck with the pie, but I live in hope. 

 

​My writing   successes 

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The Space Between sitting on the Aotearoa New Zealand Bestseller charts for five months, being in the top-ten New Zealand fiction bestsellers for 2024 and winning the New Zealand Book Lovers Awards 2025.

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Amorangi and Millie winning the 2023 Book Lovers Award, as well as being a finalist for the 2022 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. 

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Rimu: The Tree of Time hitting the top ten for two months, and being short listed for the New Zealand Book Lovers Awards 2025.

 

Being awarded a 2021 CLNZ and New Zealand Society of Authors grant to write a middle-grade novel (see details here)​.

 

Winning the 2017 Pikihuia award for best short story (find this story here) and, in 2019, being a finalist in the same awards for best emerging Māori writer. 

Participant on the 2016 Te Papa Tupu writing incubation programme.
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Blog Modern Mothercraft listed by the New Zealand Herald as being one of New Zealand's top four parenting blogs in 2014.

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