Barbara Anderson (b. 1926) gained her international standing as a novelist and short story writer in her sixties. Having already published stories, she included Victoria University's Creative Writing paper in her BA, completed in 1984, and published her first collection, I Think We Should Go Into the Jungle, in 1989. Successful subsequent titles include Girls High (1990), Portrait of the Artist's Wife (1992), which won the Wattie Book of the Year Award, The House Guest (1995) and Proud Garments (1996). Her new novel, Long Hot Summer, will be published this year.