Mandy Hager

Amanda "Mandy" Hager (born 26 July 1960, Levin) is a New Zealand writer and author.

Mandy Hager is a writer of fiction, predominately for young adults, although a shift in 2017 saw her publish "Heloise" Penguin NZ), a historical novel based on the life of 12th century nun Heloise d'Argenteuil, famed lover of philosopher Peter Abelard. In 2015 her book "Singing Home The Whale" (pub Random House NZ) won the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year and the Young Adult Fiction Category in the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, as well as a Notable Book Award and was a finalist in the LIANZA Book Awards. She has won the LIANZA Book Award for YA fiction three times ('Smashed' 2008, 'The Nature of Ash' 2013, 'Dear Vincent' 2014), the NZ Post Book Award for YA fiction ('The Crossing' 2010), an honour award in the 1996 Aim Children's Book Awards (Toms Story), Word Weavers Excellence Award (2002), Golden Wings Award (2003) and five Notable Book awards. Her 'Blood of the Lamb' trilogy has been published in the US by Pyr Books. She has also been awarded the Beatson Fellowship (2012), the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship (2014) and Writer In Residence at Waikato University (2015). She has a Teaching Diploma (Wellington College of Education), an Advanced Diploma in Applied Arts (Whitireia) and an MA in Creative Writing (Victoria University.) She also writes adult fiction, short stories, non-fiction, educational resources, blogs and articles, and currently tutors the Novel for Whitireia’s Creative Writing Programme.

On 7 November 2013, it was announced Mandy had been awarded the 2013 Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship. The prize provides for a NZD$75,000 award and the opportunity to take up residency for at least six months in Menton, a port town on the French Riviera and is one of New Zealand's most long-standing and prestigious literary awards.

She is a sister to Nicky Hager, a prominent investigative writer and journalist.