1. Mandy Hager has been the recipient of several fellowships, residencies and prizes, including the Beatson Fellowship in 2012, the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship in 2014, the Waikato University Writer in Residence in 2015 and the Margaret Mahy Medal and Lecture Award in 2019.
Mandy Hager's father, Kurt, was born in Vienna and her mother, Barbara, in Zanzibar.
Mandy Hager is the third of four children who grew up in a household where books, reading and writing were encouraged and valued.
Mandy Hager has said she and her siblings were all raised with a strong sense of social justice.
Mandy Hager has worked as a primary teacher, teacher of people with learning difficulties, youth education officer, research assistant, research and resource writer and creative writing tutor.
Mandy Hager has a Teaching Diploma, an Advanced Diploma in Applied Arts and an MA in creative writing from Victoria University of Wellington.
Mandy Hager's first published book, Tom's Story, was written after the death of her first husband in a boating accident, when she was trying to find picture books that would help her own children understand the nature of death and the emotions they were feeling.
Mandy Hager writes predominately for young adults, although a shift in 2017 saw her publish Heloise, a historical novel based on the life of 12th century nun Heloise d'Argenteuil, famed lover of philosopher Peter Abelard.
Mandy Hager writes adult fiction, short stories, non-fiction, educational resources, blogs and articles.
Mandy Hager has had work published in various journals including Fresh, Broadsheet and the 4th floor Literary Journal, and has written many educational resources for Learning Media and other publishers.
Mandy Hager has run many creative writing workshops, is a frequent visitor to schools and has appeared at numerous literary festivals, including the National Writers Forum, the Auckland Writers Festival and Verb Wellington.
Mandy Hager worked for ten years as a tutor and mentor on the Creative Writing Programme at Whitireia New Zealand until the Novel Writing course she taught was disestablished.
Mandy Hager is married with two children and two grandchildren, and lives on the Kapiti Coast.
Mandy Hager is a sister to Nicky Hager, a prominent investigative writer and journalist.
Many of Mandy Hager's books have been shortlisted for or won awards.
Mandy Hager has won the LIANZA Book Award for Young Adult fiction three times, the New Zealand Post Book Award for Young Adult fiction, an Honour award in the Aim Children's Book Awards, Word Weavers Excellence Award, Golden Wings Award and five Storylines Notable Book Awards.
Mandy Hager has been the recipient of a number of awards and residencies, including the Beatson Fellowship in 2012, the University of Waikato Writer in Residence in 2015 and the D'Arcy Writer's Grant in 2017.
On 7 November 2013, it was announced that Mandy Hager had been awarded the 2013 Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship.
In 2019, Mandy Hager received the Margaret Mahy Medal and Lecture Award, which acknowledges lifetime achievement and a distinguished contribution to New Zealand's literature for young people.