Writer Marnie Walters said the Islington St villa she rented was burgled while she was at work on Monday.
A back window was forced open and three laptops and a backup hard drive taken, she said.
''Everything I have ever written has been stolen.''
One laptop and a black rubber Transcend hard drive, with a thin neon orange strip, contained a 50,000-word life story of Dunedin artist Tanya Faiva.
The story details growing up in Dunedin and discovering as a 14-year-old Ms Faiva had Friedreich's ataxia - a condition that causes progressive damage to the nervous system.
''What we've lost is irreplaceable. My friend has offered a $1000 reward, no questions asked, if we get the photos and writing back,'' Ms Walters (27) said.
The stolen photos included images to raise $20,000 for a mobility van for Dunedin girl Amber Daisley (9), who had cerebral palsy, she said.
Professional photographers had given images to be sold as posters for the fundraiser.
A Canon EOS D60 camera was taken and all the photos from her recent 14 months of volunteer work in Cambodia, she said.
Her partner, Christopher Ashton (26), also had irreplaceable family items taken, including a laptop and photos of his late younger brother Trent, who drowned in a boating accident near Fairlie in 2011.
Also taken was a navy leather duffel bag his mother, who had multiple sclerosis, had used when she had served in the navy.
''Another precious, irreplaceable family item.''
The computers would fetch little money on the black market but the contents were priceless, she said.
The couple were insured but pleaded with whoever had the items to ''think twice'' before deleting.
The items could be dropped off at any Dunedin police station.
