Diana Noonanis a freelance journalist and author of many highly acclaimed books for young people. She has won numerous national and international awards for her writing. Diana lives on the remote Catlins coast in southeast Otago with her husband Keith Olsen, an illustrator. Her interests include environmental projects, running, natural history and food gardening, and she often travels to far-flung parts of the globe in search of traditional horticultural practices. Women of the Catlinsis her first social documentary.

Cris Antona was born in Catalonia and is now living in New Zealand, he has always been fascinated by the way photography can tell stories. With a background in psychology, social education and multimedia, she has integrated photography from a gender perspective as part of her work. Focusing on social inclusion, education and cultural understanding, Cris has worked on social documentary photography, and also as an exhibition concept developer, commissioner and digital creative director of a range of multimedia projects. Currently she is a senior lecturer at Otago Polytechnic leading e-learning and digital solutions.