Bridget Williams, Wellington, ONZM, for services to publishing
Ms Bridget Williams has been a key player in New Zealand publishing for 35 years. She began her publishing work with Oxford University Press, first in the UK and then in New Zealand, where she was associate editor of the ‘Oxford History of New Zealand’. She was managing director of the multinational publishing firm Allen & Unwin before establishing her own firm, Bridget Williams Books. She was the publisher of ‘The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography’ and ‘The Book of New Zealand Women’. Her firm has published books for the deaf community and several key works on women’s history. She was a founding member of the Listener Women’s Book Festival and has been a driving force behind initiatives such as the Independent Publishers network, while also contributing to the work of the Publishers Association of New Zealand. Ms Williams is currently working on ‘Tangata Whenua’, an illustrated Māori history, and the Series 21 project examining key 21st century issues such as emissions trading, inequality and free trade agreements. In 1996, Ms Williams was made a Member of the Most Excellent British Empire.