About Kelley

Kelley Tantau spends each day telling the stories of others. As an award-winning New Zealand-based journalist and writer, she has enjoyed the last 10 years constructing life histories, factual articles, and entertainment reviews, and has now authored two novels: The Runaway Man, and The Runaway Echo. 

After spending her formative years writing short stories, plays, and poems, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Waikato, majoring in Writing Studies in 2016.

Five months before graduating, Kelley started her career as a community print journalist, writing articles of local and national significance for one of New Zealand’s leading news agencies. For two years running, she was named Best Senior News Journalist at the Community Newspaper Association Awards, and in 2023, was Joint Runner Up for Best Community Journalist at the NZ Voyager Media Awards.

She now resides in seaside Mangawhai Heads with her husband, baby daughter, and dog, and continues working as a senior reporter.