Joy Cowley is one of New Zealand's best-loved writers. Her awards include the Margaret Mahy Medal; the NZ Post Children's Book Award 2006; the Roberta Long Medal, Alabama, USA; and the AW Reed Award for Contribution to New Zealand Literature. She is a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Women’s Weekly Books Extract
I can’t choose only one favourite book. Many come to mind, among them Annie Proulx’s “The Fishing News”, Annie Dillard’s “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek” and Sharon Creech’s “Love that Dog.” My favourite book experience was reading the Harry Potter series to grandsons on the boat in the Marlborough Sounds. We spent long summer holidays swimming and cruising under a pirate flag. As soon as we tied up on a mooring, Harry Potter came out, and my husband Terry who would yell from the deck, “Wait for me!”What am I reading at present?
Niall William’s “History of the Rain.” Ruthie’s narrative is wonderful. On page 123: “Goodness provokes bitchiness. It’s mathematical. It’s somewhere in the human genes. Any number of lovely people are married to horrible ones. Read Middlemarch (Book 989, George Eliot, Penguin Classic, London) if you don’t believe me. There’s something in me that can’t just let it be. Goodness is a tidy bow you just can’t help wanting to pull loose.” I love writing that has so much voice!
