In a Fishbone Church

Catherine Chidgey (born 1970) is a New Zealand novelist and short-story writer known for her nine novels, including the award-winning debuts In a Fishbone Church (1998) and later acclaimed works like The Wish Child (2016), Remote Sympathy (2020), The Axeman's Carnival (2022), and Pet (2023). Her major literary achievements include the inaugural Prize in Modern Letters, the Katherine Mansfield Fellowship, Best First Book at the New Zealand Book Awards and Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize (twice), the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, and shortlists/longlists for the International Dublin Literary Award and Women's Prize for Fiction.