Sherry Zhang is a writer, storyteller and creative strategist with editorial, cultural research and leadership experience.
This season, she is hungry for fun projects with collaborators, that build community care and empathy, to learn new skills, sharpen her storytelling toolbelt, have a dip in the ocean and find the best chicken sandwich ever?
NZ/AUS
She’d love to hear from potential employers/collaborators/co-conspirators/schemers.
Sherry Zhang is of Fujian, Chinese descent. She was born and raised in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland in Aotearoa New Zealand.
She is a versatile writer, editor and communicator, with a nack for bringing people together, including youth and culturally diverse communities.
Her intellectual and emotional curiosity pushes her to seek opportunities that challenge the status quo, facilitate connections and cultivate moments of discovery and understanding,
Sherry holds a Law and Arts (Communications) degree from the University of Auckland, and spent an exchange semester at UC Berkeley, U.S.
She was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in New Zealand in 2026, and practised as a criminal defence lawyer in Tāmaki Makaurau.
Her creative work can be found in nooks across the internet, the theatre stage and the printed page.
About
Editorial
Co-editor
Wāhine Inside
(published ‘25)
“Wāhine Inside is an astonishing, surprising and raw collection of voices to be read, shared and respected.” - Claire Mabey, The Spinoff
Funded by CNZ Early Career Fund
Published by 5ever books
Editor
The Pantograph Punch (‘22-’24)
The Pantograph Punch publishes urgent and vital cultural commentary by the most exciting new voices in Aotearoa.
Not for profit digital journal
Writer/Interviewer
Bring Your Own Universe
(‘24)
Winner of Auckland Best in Zine Fest 2021
Aotearoa-based zine made to amplify Queer voices
Funded by Creative New Zealand + Auckland Council
“Joy is our resistance, storytelling is our birthright and that as Queer people, we are innately expansive.” - The Pantograph Punch
Funded by NZ on Air/TikTok
Co-editor & Co-founder
The Agenda Zine
(‘20-’22)
Journalism
The Case for the Insanity Defence
15 July, 2024
The defence of insanity is a misunderstood and controversial area of criminal law that risks perpetuating misunderstandings around mental health, exacerbating existing bias in our justice system, and falling short of the responsibility of care for those who are impacted by it. It’s a two-pronged defence, requiring the jury to believe that the offender didn’t know what they were doing or didn’t know it was morally wrong.
The Big Business of Making Music for Movies
20 February, 2024
Tami Neilson is an award-winning Canadian-born country and soul singer/songwriter based in Aotearoa. She’s got a big heart, always cheering on her friends and in more ways than one, is the perfect fit to be writing songs for the upcoming Netflix movie Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie.
The New Frontier for Kiwi tech firms is Colombia. Yes Colombia
28 April, 2022
New Zealand Firm PikPok can’t find staff it needs locally.
Government mulling plans to improve pipeline of tech skills.
Miss Auckland
17 June, 2022
When a feminist student journalist entered a beauty pageant as a stunt, she walked away with a finalist sash. Four years later, she’s trying to figure out why it left her ashamed.
(Deadly Ponies x Metro Magazine Feature Writing Scholarship)
02 July, 2020
A personal essay on inherited knowledge and making use of what you find.
Fruit Foragers
The many problems with Auckland University’s racist coffee
11 December, 2020
Two Māori University of Auckland students tell Sherry Zhang about their struggle to get coffee with racist imagery removed from campus – and why they think it’s emblematic of a bigger problem.
The fine art of curating a breakup playlist
14 September, 2021
Music has long been used as a balm to soothe the pain of a broken heart, but as Sherry Zhang explains, not just any old soundtrack will do.
Chloe Gong is 21, she’s from the North Shore, and she’s just wrote a US Bestseller
4 December, 2020
Young adult novel These Violent Delights was released in the US three weeks ago and is already a massive hit. Sherry Zhang introduces a star.
Copywriting & Agency work
One sheet for Phoebe Rings - Carpark Records
Interviewer/Researcher for Dream Bigger - Colenso BBDO
Yang/Young/杨 (Theatre)
Creative Writing
Co-written with Nuanzhi Zheng
Staged 2021 at Basement Theatre as part of Auckland Theatre Company Here and Now festival
Finalist in b4 25 Playmarket awards
Poetry
“I cannot write a poem about China”
-Auckland University Press
Residencies
Rm Gallery 2025
Young Writer’s Festival Young Writer in Residence (Robert Lord Cottage) 2024
“The cast of Yang/Young/杨 is full of charisma and dynamism, imbuing the snappy dialogue with energy and playful dexterity,” - Alice Canton (The Pantograph Punch)
“First Swim of the Summer”
- Massey University Press