Rose Northey

Northey, Rose (1994 - ) was born in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and graduated from Auckland University with Honours in Mechanical Engineering. She worked for a number of years at Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, and then fell in love with poetry.

Rose made the move to full-time creative in 2019, starting with performance poetry. She is a TEDxAuckland Alumni Performer for 2019, runner up in the NZ Poetry Slam 2020, and the Going West Writers Festival Poetry Slam champion for 2020. Her poetry is humorous and theatrical, combining imagination and lived experiences. 

Her poem Salt and Vinegar and Shame was made into a short film by Cameron Pitney.

As an illustrator, Rose won the Gavin Bishop Storylines award in 2021, which resulted in a mentorship by Gavin Bishop. She went on to illustrate her first children’s book, The Lighthouse Princess by Susan Wardell (Penguin, 2022). The Lighthouse Princess won the NZSA Best First Book Award at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults in 2023, and was also shortlisted for the Picture Book Award and Russell Clarke Award for Illustration. 

She has also worked on Wonderland Nights: White Rabbit’s Diary, a Skybear Games Visual Novel; completed three calendars through Standing Inks Limited; and completes regular work for private commissions. Rose's illustrations weave a sense of silliness into stories, with expressive characters, visual subplots and muted colour palettes.

Rose has produced her own comedy fringe show, titled Open your mouth and I will poet all over your face.

She is based in Te-Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.