Mary Varnham (born 1946) is a New Zealand writer and publisher. She was a

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

City Councillor from 1998 to 2001.

Biography

Varnham was raised in

Paekākāriki Paekākāriki () is a town in the Kāpiti Coast District in the south-western North Island, New Zealand, and one of the northernmost Commuter town, towns of the wider Wellington region. It lies north of Porirua and northeast of Wellington Cent ...

until she was 8 years old, when her family moved to Wellington. She attended Paekākāriki School, Hataitai School, Wellington East Girls College and

Woodford House Havelock North () is a town in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island of New Zealand, situated less than 2 km south-east of the city of Hastings. It was a borough for many years until the 1989 reorganisation of local government saw it merg ...

. She studied a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in English and political science at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

, graduating in 1969. From 1972 to 1978, she lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where she worked as a writer, public relations consultant, and book publicist at

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

. After returning to New Zealand, she worked at

National Business Review ''National Business Review'' (or ''NBR'') is one of New Zealand's business news publishing websites. The NBR has focused on delivering breaking business news and analysis since its founding in 1970. NBR is known for its independent journalism f ...

and Network Communications. In 1983, she joined the

New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party, also known simply as Labour (), is a Centre-left politics, centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descri ...

’s parliamentary research unit and in 1984, she became a ministerial press secretary for Ann Hercus in

David Lange David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. A member of the New Zealand Labour Party, Lange was also the Minister of Education ...

's Labour Government. From 1998 to 2001, Varnham was a Wellington City Councillor. In

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

she stood for

Mayor of Wellington The mayor of Wellington is the head of the municipal government of Wellington, the city of Wellington. The mayor presides over the Wellington City Council. The mayor is directly elected using the Single Transferable Vote method of proportional ...

, but was unsuccessful, finishing second behind deputy mayor

Kerry Prendergast Dame Kerry Leigh Prendergast (née Ferrier; born 28 March 1953) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 33rd Mayor of Wellington between 2001 and 2010, succeeding Mark Blumsky. She was the second woman to hold the position, after Fran W ...

. In 2003, Varnham established Awa Press, a publishing company focusing on non-fiction works by New Zealand and overseas writers. She edited Peter Adds' book ''The Transit of Venus,'' which was shortlisted for the

Montana New Zealand Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder Wa ...

in the Reference & Anthology Category in 2008.

Publications

* Varnham, M., & Woodford House (Havelock North, N.Z.). (1994). ''Beyond blue hills: One hundred years of Woodford House''. Havelock North, N.Z: Woodford House. *Kedgley, S. J., & Varnham, M. (1993). ''Heading nowhere in a navy blue suit: And other tales from the feminist revolution''. Wellington, N.Z: Daphne Brasell Associates Press. *Varnham, M. (1979). ''Bhutan: Himalayan Kingdom''. Thimphu: Royal Government of the Kingdom of Bhutan.

Personal life

Varnham married Paul O'Regan, a solicitor, in 1986.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varnham, Mary 1946 births Living people New Zealand publishers (people) People educated at Woodford House People educated at Wellington East Girls' College University of Otago alumni Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand politicians Wellington City Councillors People from Paekākāriki