Global Courant
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Friday that she is writing a book focusing more on leadership than politics.
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In an Instagram post, Ardern said she is often asked if she wants to write about her five years as New Zealand’s leader.
“At first my answer was no. I didn’t want to write a book about the internal politics of the past five years, and then someone convinced me I didn’t need to,” Ardern wrote.
“That it might be worth focusing instead on some of the things I talked about in my farewell speech — like the idea that you can be your own kind of leader and still make a difference. And that is what I intend to do.”
Ardern said she had no date for when the book will be published.
“But I hope when it’s done it’s the kind of book that would have made a difference to my 14-year-old self,” Ardern wrote.
Only 37 when she became prime minister in 2017, Ardern was seen as a global icon of the left. She shocked New Zealanders in January when she said she was stepping down because she no longer had “enough in the tank” to do the job justice in an election year.
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Since then, Arden has announced that she will temporarily join Harvard University this year after being appointed to dual fellowships at Harvard Kennedy School. She has also taken on an unpaid role in the fight against online extremism.
This month, Ardern received one of New Zealand’s highest honors for her commitment to guiding the country through a mass shooting and pandemic. She was made a Dame Grand Companion, meaning people will now call her Dame Jacinda.
Ardern said she worked with a team of publishers: Penguin in New Zealand and Australia, Macmillan in Britain and Crown in the United States. The publishers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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