About us

Tender Press (formerly We Are Babies) is an independent publisher based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Our aim is to publish excellent writing. We have a particular interest in work by people of colour and queer, indigenous, disabled, and otherwise marginalised writers.

For retailers, our books are distributed nationwide by Expensive Hobby.

Meet the team

  • Ash Davida Jane

    PUBLISHER & EDITOR

    Ash is a writer and editor from Aotearoa. She is the author of two collections of poetry, Every Dark Waning (Platypus Press, 2016) and How to Live With Mammals (VUP, 2021), which won the 2021 Laurel Prize. She is a regular reviewer for Radio New Zealand.

  • Stacey Teague

    PUBLISHER & EDITOR

    Stacey (Ngāti Maniapoto/Ngāpuhi) is a writer and editor from Aotearoa New Zealand. She is the poetry editor for Awa Wahine, has her Masters in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters, and has one book, Takahē (Scrambler Books, 2014) and two chapbooks, not a casual solitude (Ghost City Press, 2017) and hoki mai (If A Leaf Falls Press, 2020).

  • A black and white photo of Ya-Wen Ho's face and upper torso.

    Ya-Wen Ho

    PRODUCTION TEAM

    Ya-Wen Ho is a letterpress researcher, graphic designer, and poet currently living in and working from Pōneke/Wellington. As research assistant for the Studio of Dawn Waters at Wai-te-ata Press, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, she is cleaning and archiving a unique collection of Chinese metal type, once used to print the New Zealand Chinese Growers' Journal (1949-1972).