I live and write in Christchurch, New Zealand. I have been writing full time since 2006, when I ceased practice as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist. My broad experience of life and living informs my writing.
My first novel – Past Perfect – was first published in 2010 by Wily Publications, Christchurch, and republished by Interactive Publications, Brisbane, Australia, in 2012. My second novel – Resolutions – has been released by Pūkeko Publications in December 2020 as an ebook only.
I am the author of four books of poetry: the first – Night’s Glass Table – was awarded the 2012 IP Picks Best First Book by the publisher Interactive Publications; most recent collections are I am Minerva and The Trials of Minnie Dean: a verse biography (Submarine imprint, Mākaro Press, 2016 and 2017 respectively).
I have edited two anthologies of New Zealand writing: Crest to Crest: Impressions of Canterbury: prose & poetry (Wily Publications, 2009) and, together with Joanna Preston, broken lines / in charcoal (Pūkeko Publications, 2020), a book of contemporary poetry by Christchurch poets.
I am also a playwright and have had two plays produced: Geography of Loss (a family memoir) and Poverty and Muse (about NZ artist Frances Hodgkins). My third play, The Falling, is currently being produced for radio as a podcast. More about this later ...
In 2012, I started the small indie press Pūkeko Publications. See HERE
My print books (below) are available through good bookstores and via this website, using the Contact Page HERE
Further information is on the Publications and Sales page HERE
My first novel – Past Perfect – was first published in 2010 by Wily Publications, Christchurch, and republished by Interactive Publications, Brisbane, Australia, in 2012. My second novel – Resolutions – has been released by Pūkeko Publications in December 2020 as an ebook only.
I am the author of four books of poetry: the first – Night’s Glass Table – was awarded the 2012 IP Picks Best First Book by the publisher Interactive Publications; most recent collections are I am Minerva and The Trials of Minnie Dean: a verse biography (Submarine imprint, Mākaro Press, 2016 and 2017 respectively).
I have edited two anthologies of New Zealand writing: Crest to Crest: Impressions of Canterbury: prose & poetry (Wily Publications, 2009) and, together with Joanna Preston, broken lines / in charcoal (Pūkeko Publications, 2020), a book of contemporary poetry by Christchurch poets.
I am also a playwright and have had two plays produced: Geography of Loss (a family memoir) and Poverty and Muse (about NZ artist Frances Hodgkins). My third play, The Falling, is currently being produced for radio as a podcast. More about this later ...
In 2012, I started the small indie press Pūkeko Publications. See HERE
My print books (below) are available through good bookstores and via this website, using the Contact Page HERE
Further information is on the Publications and Sales page HERE
Resolutions
When Lawyer for Children Rebecca Eaton is invited by martinet Jacqueline Thompson to be her Junior Counsel in a murder/infanticide trial, Rebecca sees a path to achieving her ambition of becoming a partner in the law firm. How can she know this will trip a series of events that challenge all the beliefs and plans that give her world structure, purpose and peace?
Pressure mounts as a Family Court case escalates to tragedy. Rebecca is grief-stricken and feels unreasonably responsible. Her competence is questioned, media hound her…
But deep in the lush and rugged bush country of New Zealand, her intense involvement with a Māori family causes Rebecca to risk opening doors, to risk loving and being hurt …
‘This is storytelling at its most thought-provoking and gripping. Rebecca Eaton wrestles with the practicalities and cultural sensitivities of protecting families in distress. Underpinning the narrative tension, post-quake Christchurch, the wild West Coast and the brooding water and bush of Marlborough Sounds come alive in the author's deft hands.’ – Gail Ingram
‘Karen Zelas skilfully combines the elements of tension, pace, friction and urgency to create a novel which has the reader turning pages. The characters are engaging, and the visual and atmospheric images of South Island, New Zealand, evocative. Resolutions is literary crime fiction at its best.’ – Paddy Richardson
ISBN: 978-0-473-57930-2 (softcover)
ISBN: 978-0-473-55442-2 (ebook)
Softcover publication: recommended retail price $35.00. Available from good bookshops, libraries and through this website.
The ebook is available from Amazon Kindle Store.
Recommended price: $NZ5.77
The Trials of Minnie Dean: A verse biography
Minnie Dean: the first - and only - woman to be hanged in New Zealand. Baby farmer and child murderer, or hardworking wife and mother, supporting her family and caring for unwanted children in a society that shunned her?
Minnie Dean's trials and tribulations are explored using a myriad of voices, including Dean's own, from her childhood in Scotland to the gallows in Invercargill in 1895. The poet herself appears as a psychiatrist re-examining witnesses from Dean's trial.
ISBN: 978-0-9941299-9-4
First published: 2017
Reprinted: 2020
Cover image: William Carden-Horton
Publisher: Mākaro Press (Submarine imprint)
196 pages
Recommended retail price: $NZ25.00 Order HERE
I am Minerva
'begins with a light-hearted selfie and ends with the writer's realisation that - like the goddess Minerva - she is a custodian of words and creativity and even wisdom. A poet no less ... Karen Zelas explores with intense fascination the people and histories that inform her life.'
ISBN: 978-0-9941299-7-0
Published: 2016
Cover image: Girl (With Offered Eyes) by Seraphine Pick, 2004.
Oil on canvas. 1800 x 1200mm. Private collection.
Courtesy of the artist & Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland
Publisher: Mākaro Press (Submarine imprint)
Pages: 189
Recommended retail price: $NZ25.00 Order HERE
Night's Glass Table
'The poems in Night's Glass Table are tight and emotionally powerful, and deal with themes such as death, grief and love. Zelas chooses her words with care, and her poems are always eloquent and evocative. She demonstrates a sound use of conventions, and her writing is well-crafted and technically excellent.'
Received the 2012 IP Picks Best First Book award.
ISBN: 9781921869914
Published: 2014
Cover image: Henry Zelas
Publisher: Interactive Publications (Interactive Press imprint)
Pages: 87
Price: $NZ20.00 Order HERE
feathers unfettered: 25 New Zealand Birds
These playful, yet scientifically accurate poems about our native birds are each illustrated by an imaginative pen and ink drawing by Hawkes Bay artist Jan FitzGerald; Māori designs are revealed woven into the birds' feathers.
ISBN: 978-0-473-28797-9
Published: 2014
Cover image: Jan FitzGerald
Publisher: Pūkeko Publications
Pages: 63
Price: $NZ15.00 Order HERE
See Sales page for Post and Packaging costs, and Payment details HERE
All Orders through Contact Us Page HERE
