About Dinah

Dinah Priestley is a professional writer,artist, actress,teacher, cartoonist and oral historian who has worked in New Zealand, Thailand, Malaya and Zambia for radio, newspapers, magazines and T.V.

She has organised and recorded oral history tapes for the N.Z. Dept of Education, Internal Affairs, the Thorndon Society Archives and the Alexander Turnbull Oral History Centre during the past 30 years.

She has a B.A. in French and English and an ATCL in speech. She is also a trained and certificated teacher, an editor and a publisher.

Published Books

Hector The Bully

Author Dinah Priestley. A children’s book published in England, America and Finland by Dents, Carolrhoda and Kustannus-Makela Oy, respectively.

Old Thorndon: Four Walks Through Wellington’s Historic Thorndon.

Author Dinah Priestley. Pub. Anchorage Press.

The Premier’s House: 

Author, Dinah Priestley, Pub. Dept of InternalAffairs in association with Anchorage Press.
Commissioned by Internal Affairs for 1990s Celebration. A sound tape was commissioned at the same time. This was written and produced by Dinah with help from Radio N.Z. and a group of Wellington’s best actors. It was performed for the opening of Premier House.

That’s Not Cricket

Written and illustrated by Dinah Priestley. Tandem Press. A spoof on the Glorious Game of Cricket.

Oscar Star of the Opera

Written and illustrated by Priestley. Scholastic. Sept/04

Scripts Written and Recorded For National Radio

• Peacocks and Pink Gin ( Travel scripts) 1965-67
• Up The Nile With Burton ( 5 Travel Scripts)1991
• Programmes Researched , Recorded, Written, Fronted and Produced for Radio N.Z 
• Dinkum Purlers( 14 half hour Scripts 1999-2000) NZ Accent.
• The Song of Clan Maclean (x 2 half hr progs.) A Hawkes Bay Ceilidh
• Thorndon’s Mafia (x 2.. .. )Demolition and Revival of Wellington’s
• Oldest Suburb ( 2000)
• Mekong to Mexico (x 4 ..)Travel Programmes in Vietnam, India, Egypt
• Venice, London, New York, Mexico.( 2002.)
• Drawl and Twang( x 6 .. ..)NZ Singer Songwriters who sound like us
• (2003) ( 28 half hour programmes in all)

Oral History Interviews on Tape

deposited at Oral History Centre of ATL:
Over 120 interviews including N.Z. Coastal Voices, Cappuccino, Old Thorndon ( Some of these gifted by
Priestley and Burton)

T.V. Acting Roles

These include: Coverstory, Country G.P. Shark in the Park , Erebus;
( Justice Mahon’s wife Margarita), Erua;( Edith Wollaston), Close to Home. Small War on the Edge of Town, Shortland St x 2.(Marion Seymour and Lady Warner) Hercules the Real Story(witch crone) The Hobbit. 2013+ 14.

Exhibitions

Dinah is a professional freelance artist specialising in batik and oil painting.
She and her partner, Tony Burton have exhibited widely throughout New Zealand and overseas, particularly in France, England and Australia.
Many of their historical batik works are hung in N.Z. civic centres, banks and public buildings.