Claire Mabey - 2026 Lynley Dodd Children's Writers Award Recipient

By The Arts Foundation | Posted: Friday Jul 24, 2026

Warm congratulations Claire!

The Arts Foundation thrilled to announce Claire Mabey as the recipient of the 2026 Lynley Dodd Children's Writers Award – recognition that comes with a $30,000 gift made possible by the extraordinary generosity of Dame Lynley Dodd.

Writer, Verb Wellington Founder, books editor at The Spinoff and champion of stories – Claire has given so much to the literary life of Aotearoa New Zealand. Her debut novel The Raven's Eye Runaways won Best First Book at the 2025 NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, its sequel The Raven's Eye Rebellion launched in April, and her first picture book Cass and the Beast arrives in August.

Claire’s reaction when learned she'd been selected – "This award means everything to me! I am absolutely floored by it and so deeply grateful. To have the support of Dame Lynley Dodd, one of the world's greatest writers, is a Hercules Morse-sized boost in confidence. I have so many ideas in my head and in notebooks and now, thanks to this generosity, I can take a sabbatical and work on them, full time."

Congratulations Claire – we can't wait to see where those ideas lead.