We are delighted that Joy Cowley, one of Storylines’ patrons, and a trustee of the Storylines Trust, was honoured in Wellington on Monday evening with the 2010 Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in fiction. The Storylines Management Committee was among several groups and individuals which had nominated Joy for the award. We are thrilled that her huge achievements in both children’s and adults’ writing, and her generosity and her mana within the writing community here and abroad have been recognised.
Joy spoke movingly of her great pleasure in receiving the award, and of her belief in the importance of children growing up reading stories about the culture and landscape of their own country (an experience she and her generation lacked (at a time when there were few New Zealand children’s writers), and of her own commitment to and love of New Zealand.
Coming hard on the heels of the launch of her memoir, Navigation, and of her gift to the Storylines Trust of Writing from the Heart: How to Write for Children, this award is a fitting tribute to a beloved writer who has dedicated her life’s work to ensuring that all children not only could read, but that they would enjoy reading – and enjoy reading stories about themselves and the country they grow up in.
The official news release is on the Creative New Zealand website.