Venetia Sherson is a writer and editor. She was editor of the Waikato Times newspaper in Hamilton, New Zealand for six years and has written for magazines and newspapers throughout her career. In 2003 she was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for Services to Journalism. She edited two books during her tenure as Editor in Residence at Waikato Institute of Technology and has co-writtentwo books with friend and journalist Denise Irvine: Stand By Me, about the Waikato Women's Refuge, and The Open Door, about a project to end homelessness in her home city, Hamilton. She is also Grace Sherson's grandmother.