UK-born New Zealand novelist
Nicky Pellegrino (born 1964) is a novelist.[1] She is an English-born New Zealander of Italian descent and lives and writes in Auckland, New Zealand.[2] Her novels have been translated into 12 languages.[3]
Early life
Pellegrino was born in Liverpool in the north-west of England to an Italian father and English mother.[3] The family spent summer holidays with her father's siblings in southern Italy, experiences which later became the inspiration for some of her books.[2] She studied English at the University of Lancaster, completing a BA (Honours) degree[1]
Career
After graduating, Pellegrino moved to London and worked on women’s and entertainment magazines. In 1994 she moved to Auckland and became deputy editor, and then editor of New Zealand Woman’s Weekly.[1] She has also worked as the editor of a bridal magazine, and was the books editor for the Herald on Sunday newspaper for seven years.[4] Pellegrino writes articles for the New Zealand Listener, Next Magazine, NZ Gardener and Food Magazine, and has a regular book column in the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly.[1]
She began writing her first novel in 2001, when her friend Angela D'Audney was diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of 56.[5] Pellegrino was moved to begin on a long-held dream of writing a novel, and wrote Delicious while co-writing D'Audney's autobiography.[6]
