Alexa Johnston

Alexa Johnston
NationalityNew Zealander
Alma materNorthcote College, University of Auckland
GenreBiography, cookery
Notable worksSir Edmund Hillary: An Extraordinary Life, Ladies, a Plate
Notable awardsLifestyle & Contemporary Culture Award, Recipe Book of the Year
Website
Ladies, a plate

Alexa Johnston is an author, art curator, and historian from New Zealand.

Background

Johnston attended Northcote College. She studied Art History at the University of Auckland.[1]

Career

Johnston worked for nineteen years as a curator at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.[2]

Following the 2002 exhibition, 'Sir Edmund Hillary: Everest and Beyond', which she curated for Auckland Museum, Johnston published her first book, Sir Edmund Hillary: An Extraordinary Life.[2][3] The book was translated into German by Ursula Pesch and Hans Freundl.[4] Johnston collaborated with David Larsen to write Reaching the Summit, biography of Edmund Hillary for young adults.[5]

Johnston has published a number of books celebrating New Zealand's culinary history including Ladies, a Plate (2008), A Second Helping (2009), What's For Pudding? (2011), and Ladies, a Plate: Jams and Preserves (2016).[2]

In 2016, Johnston edited and revised the Edmonds Cookery Book for its 69th De Luxe edition.[6]

Awards

Sir Edmund Hillary: An Extraordinary Life received the non-fiction honour award in the 2008 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.[7]

The first book in her cookery series, Ladies, a Plate, won the Lifestyle & Contemporary Culture Award at the 2009 Montana New Zealand Book Awards.[7] It also won the Publishers' Association of New Zealand Award for Best Illustrated Book and was Recipe Book of the Year in the New Zealand Guild of Food Writers Culinary Quill Awards.[2]

Johnston's books have also won design awards, including Best Cover in the 2006 Spectrum Book Design Awards for Sir Edmund Hillary: An Extraordinary Life[8] and Nielsen Award for Best Book for Ladies, A Plate at the 2009 PANZ Book Design Awards.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Alexa Johnston". Auckland Libraries. 28 January 2016. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "Alexa Johnston". Penguin New Zealand. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  3. ^ Johnston, Alexa (2005). Sir Edmund Hillary: An Extraordinary Life. Penguin. ISBN 9780670045549.
  4. ^ Johnston, Alexa (2013). Sir Edmund Hillary: Die Biografie. Translated by Pesch, Ursula; Freundl, Hans. NG Taschenbuch. ISBN 9783492404709.
  5. ^ "Reaching the Summit: Sir Edmund Hillary's Story by Alexa Johnston". Penguin New Zealand. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  6. ^ Steenhart, Josie (28 September 2016). "Iconic Edmonds cookbook given mouthwatering makeover". Stuff. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Past Winners by Author". New Zealand Book Awards Trust. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  8. ^ "Spectrum Book Design Awards 2006 winners". Publishers Association of New Zealand Inc. 11 October 2007. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  9. ^ "2009 PANZ Book Design Awards". PANZ Book Design Awards. 27 October 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2017.