HBRW 2026 - The Crash

Award-winning journalist Sally Wenley is author of The Crash, which describes the effects of a Hawke’s Bay bus accident in 1987, which killed five people from Sally’s school and altered the course of her life. As well as confronting her own grief and trauma, she interviews other survivors about their experiences and looks at the different ways trauma was handled then compared to now. Interviewed by journalist Susie Ferguson, Sally shares her story with honesty, insight and humour.

About the Authors

Sally Wenley has a Bachelor of Arts from Massey University and a diploma in broadcast journalism from the New Zealand Broadcasting School. She began her journalism career at Television New Zealand in Auckland, worked for a time at a magazine for doctors and then at Radio New Zealand, where she won four journalism awards for radio reporting. Sally is now a freelance journalist for both RNZ and other publications. In her spare time, she enjoys hunting and fishing and volunteers to help other newly injured people who have become wheelchair users like herself. She lives in Auckland with Bruce and her teenage daughter.

Susie Ferguson was born in Scotland and is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in New Zealand. After graduating from The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama and the University of the Arts London, she became a war correspondent, reporting and presenting from around the world - most notably the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. She emigrated to New Zealand in 2009, and for eight years was co-host of Radio NZ's top-rating show, Morning Report. She has also made radio documentaries and podcasts including RNZ's The Unthinkable and Undercurrent: Misinformation in Aotearoa.
Susie now hosts RNZ's Saturday Morning, is an ambassador for Endometriosis NZ, and lives in Wellington with her family.

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