John Cranna

John Cranna is the winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book. He grew up in the Waikato, New Zealand, then moved to London, where he worked as a community activist in that city's most notorious red light and crime district, Kings Cross, for ten years. He has published three books, and his work is published in the UK, France, Australia and New Zealand. His stories have won both national and international awards. His work was used in the French National Baccalaureat exam. He edited New Zealand's largest circulation magazine for five years. He established a Masters of Creative Writing at Auckland's AUT University, and was voted by students the university's Best Post Graduate Teacher. He now runs The Creative Hub, New Zealand's leading independent writing centre. He is a keen scuba diver, tango dancer, and Buddhist meditator.