Hazel is a New Zealand author, journalist and history enthusiast. She is the author of five books: Great Hearts: First Ladies of Aoraki Mount Cook (Massey University Press, 2026); Fire & Ice: Secrets, histories, treasures and mysteries of Tongariro National Park (Massey University Press, 2025); Solo: Backcountry adventuring in Aotearoa New Zealand (Massey University Press, 2022); Wild Westie (Penguin, 2014), a biography of Sir Bob Harvey; and Sell! (Penguin, 2013), a history of the advertising industry.
Her immersive research into the history of women’s mountaineering earned her a Whiria Te Mahara New Zealand History Grant and the 2026 Friends of the Hocken Collections Award, while the project was also highly commended for the Copyright Licensing NZ / New Zealand Society of Authors Writers’ Award in 2025.
Hazel’s essays and journalism have been published throughout Australasia, including in the collection Otherhood (Massey University Press, 2024). Hazel holds a Master of Creative Writing with first-class honours and an MA in Media Studies. She is a past resident of the Michael King Writers Centre and the Robert Lord Writers Cottage, and was named the inaugural Luna Foundation Writers Residency recipient in 2025.