Joy Cowley

Kathryn Walls (Victoria University of Wellington)

Ed. by John C. Ross, Massey University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 9.1.2: New Zealand Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Doreen D'Cruz (Massey University), Jennifer Lawn (Massey University), John C. Ross (Massey University), Mark Williams (Victoria University of Wellington)

Dates

Born 7 Aug 1936
Activity 1956-ongoing

Places

Born in New Zealand
Active in New Zealand

Activities

Primary

Children's/Young Adult writer
Novelist

Resources

Cowley's Works

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Joy Cowley had already gained a reputation in and beyond New Zealand as a writer of short stories and as a novelist when she went on to specialize in writing for children, becoming internationally famous for the four hundred or more graded readers and dozens of trade books she has written for primary (i.e., elementary) school children. She has also written “chapter books” for older children, and novels for children in and approaching the “young adult” (YA) category. Films have been made of her 1967 novel

Nest in a Falling Tree

(which was re-scripted as the 1971 horror movie

The Night Digger

by Roald Dahl), of her 1981 children’s story

The Silent One

(released as a movie in 1985), and

of “The Silk” (1965), her most famous short story for adults (released as a short film in…

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4155 words

Citation: Walls, Kathryn. "Joy Cowley". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 August 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1047, accessed 26 April 2024.]

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