Kate Clark (writer)

Kate Emma McCosh Clark (née Woolnough; 15 May 1847 – 30 November 1926) was a New Zealand children's writer, poet, artist and community worker.

She wrote and illustrated an early New Zealand children's book, A Southern Cross Fairy Tale, which was published in London in 1891.

[1] Two days later, on a Saturday, the Auckland premises of Archibald Clark and Sons were closed to give employees the opportunity to celebrate the wedding.

[1] The Anglican bishop of Auckland, William Cowie, described her as being "specially gifted as a hostess, being gracious to everybody, desirous of helping all who need her aid, and most interesting as an accomplished painter and a woman of rare good sense".

In 1882 she worked closely with Eliza Cowie to establish a charitable organisation called the Girls' Friendly Society, of which she became vice president.

[5] After a number of her husband's businesses failed, the family moved to London in 1889, where Clark pursued a career as a writer.

[6] She noted in the introduction that she had "endeavoured to adhere to the true spirit of the tales themselves, and to give them the form, expression and speech characteristic of the country and clever native race".