Author and journalist Nicky Pellegrino, deputy editor of the New Zealand Woman's Weekly for almost eight years, is taking over as editor from Rowan Dixon.

In 2001, Pellegrino helped the late broadcaster Angela D'Audney write her best-selling autobiography Angela: A Wonderful Life. This year she published her first novel, Delicious.

The magazine's chief executive and publisher, Wendy Bloxham, said Pellegrino had a fundamental understanding of the publication's brand and its place in the market.