Wellington writer Philippa Swan trained as a landscape architect, with degrees from Otago and Melbourne. Her nonfiction book, Life (and Death) in a Small City Garden, was published in 2001 to critical acclaim. In 2006 her award-winning short story 'Life Coach' was selected for the NZ Book Month publication The Six Pack. Another, more recent story was selected for the LitCrawl short story competition. She has been a freelance writer for a number of lifestyle magazines for over 15 years, including a columnist for NZ Gardener and Cuisine magazines. 'Philippa Swan's is an original voice that is articulate, humorous and disarmingly refreshing.' - NZ Books