Philippa Werry writes fiction, non-fiction, poetry and plays for children and young adults, as well as articles, reviews and non-fiction for adults. Her work has been widely published, broadcast on National Radio, included in anthologies and shortlisted for a number of awards, including the Manhire Prize for Creative Science Writing three times, as well as the Text Publishing Prize in 2010 and the Joy Cowley Award in 2015, the 2004 Australian Bilby Awards, the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards (2009 and 2014), the 2014 LIANZA awards, and the New Zealand Children and Young Adults Book Awards (2016, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023). Werry was the winner of the Jack Lasenby Award in 2006, and the recipient of the NZSA mid-career writer's award in 2010.