Brian Turner is a former New Zealand hockey player and has published best-selling sports biographies, many other books and numerous collections of poetry, including most recently Just This (Victoria University Press, 2009).

He has received many awards for his writing; including the Te Mata Estate NZ Poet Laureate 2003–05, the Lauris Edmond Memorial Award for Poetry 2009 and New Zealand Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in Poetry 2009.