Anna Taylor was born in 1982. She completed the MA in Creative Writing at Victoria University in 2006, and won the Adam Prize in Creative Writing for the manuscript she wrote during that year. She lives in Wellington. Relief is her first book, and it won the NZSA Hubert Church Best First Book Award 2010.
Praise for Relief ‘Dark, sometimes menacing, often funny, this is an extraordinary collection of stories. They are beautifully understated, yet deeply layered, and the weather is a wonderful character in many of them. My favourite two are Michael is Fasting for Christmas and In the Wind – both deal with dark subjects in witty and original ways.’ —Carole Beu, The Women's Bookshop, Speaking Volumes, Radio NZ National
‘These are wonderful stories, exquisitely observed and recorded with delicacy and wit.’ —Emily Perkins
‘… Anna Taylor in these stories has the command of technique to make the most of interesting story material, most of it to do with family relationships, from the ordinary to the extreme.’ —Lawrence Jones, Otago Daily Times
‘Taylor has produced a superb debut collection, is unafraid to turn calamities into blessings, and writes with the elegance and composure of a silversmith. I can't wait to read what she does next.’ —Paula Green, NZ Herald