Dr Tracey Slaughter is a poet and short story writer. She is the author of six books, including: Conventional Weapons (Victoria University Press, 2019), Devil's Trumpet (Victoria University Press, 2021) and the award-winning novella if there is no shelter (Ad Hoc, 2020). She has been widely anthologised and has received numerous awards, including the international Bridport Prize (2014), BNZ Katherine Mansfield Awards in 2004 and 2001, and in 2023 she was the winner of the Manchester Poetry Prize. Her short story collection, Deleted Scenes for Lovers, was acclaimed as ‘note-perfect’ (Spinoff) and ‘intoxicating . . . self-assured, forceful’ (Listener). In 2014 she established the literary journal Mayhem. She lives in Kirikiriroa Hamilton and teaches creative writing at the University of Waikato.