the starling editorial committee aims to breathe new life into our editorial perspective and support young writers in this next phase of their careers
The Editorial Committee is made up of two Starling alumni who will assist with the reading and selection process for each issue. Each member may hold their space for a maximum of four consecutive issues, at which point applications will reopen. This opportunity is made possible by support from Creative New Zealand.
current members
joy holley
Joy Holley lives in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Her debut collection of short fiction Dream Girl was published by Te Herenga Waka University Press in 2023. She completed her Masters in Creative Writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters in 2020, and was a guest curator for Verb Wellington in 2021. In 2024, she was the Verb Wellington Writer in Residence, and she has also been a resident at the Michael King Writers Centre.
ruby macomber
Ruby Macomber (Rotuma/Taveuni/Ngāpuhi) is a poet, researcher and arts facilitator based in Tāmaki Makaurau. They are the curator of STREETSIDE for the 2025 Auckland Writers Festival and the 2024 New Zealand Young Writers Festival. In November 2024, her debut chapbook, My Moana Girls, was published by ngā pukapuka pekapeka. Her work features in local and national digital and print media, including Mana Moana: Pasifika Voices as part of COP28, Landfall, Metro, The Spinoff, Katūīvei, and Waka Kuaka. She works at the University of Auckland and manages Te Kāhui, a rōpū facilitating equitable arts opportunities in Corrections and communities.
past members
2023 - 2025
khadro mohamed
Khadro Mohamed is a poet and writer from Wellington. Her poetry is often inspired by her love for food, texture, history and her whakapapa. Her debut novel, Before the Winter Ends, was published by Tender Press in 2025, and her collection of poetry, We’re All Made of Lightning, was shortlisted for the Ockham NZ Book Awards 2023. You can find her earlier works in a range of online outlets such as The Spinoff, Starling, Sweet Mammalian, and The Pantograph Punch.
nina mingya powles
Nina Mingya Powles is a writer, zinemaker and librarian from Aotearoa New Zealand, currently living in London. She is the author of several poetry pamphlets, zines and poetry books, including Magnolia 木蘭, Tiny Moons: A Year of Eating in Shanghai, and a collection of essays, Small Bodies of Water. Her new collection of poetry, In the Hollow of the Wave, will be published by Auckland University Press in 2025. She is a pamphlet selector for the Poetry Book Society in the UK, and writes an occasional e-newsletter about food and memory called ‘Comfort Food’.
2021 - 2023
Photo by Petra Mingneau
CLAUDIA JARDINE
Claudia Jardine is a writer and musician from Ōtautahi, working as a free-lance arts administrator, educator and editor. BITER, Claudia’s first book of poems, was published by Auckland University Press in 2023. Her poetry chapbook The Temple of Your Girl was published in AUP New Poets 7 (2020), and her writing can be found in many of Aotearoa's literary journals and poetry websites. Her debut music release, North EP (2019), made it onto the national independent radio charts, and she frequently features in the local gig circuit as both a performance poet and a solo music artist.
sinead overbye
Sinead Overbye (Te Whānau a Kai, Ngāti Porou) is a researcher, writer and editor from Te Tairāwhiti, currently based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. She holds an MA in creative writing and a BA in Art History and Spanish. Her work has been published in Turbine | Kapohau, RNZ, Starling, Oscen, Sport 47, Tupuranga Journal and other places. She has worked as a co-editor of Te Rito o Te Harakeke and Stasis Journal, and is currently the Kaiwāwāhi Kaupapa Māori | Kaupapa Māori Editor for The Pantograph Punch.