Brigid Lowry (born 25 March 1953) is a New Zealand author.

Background

Lowry was born in 1953 in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand. She has a diploma of teaching from Auckland Teachers College (1973), BA in English from

Curtin University Curtin University (previously Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology) is an Australian public university, public research university based in Bentley, Western Australia, Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. ...

, a postgraduate diploma of English literature, and an MA in creative writing from the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

. Lowry has lived for some time in Australia, returning to live in

Nelson, New Zealand Nelson () is a List of cities in New Zealand, city and Districts of New Zealand, unitary authority on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay at the top of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the oldest city in the South Island and the second-old ...

from 2000 to 2010. She currently resides in

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Career

Lowry is primarily a children's and young adult author, she has also published poetry and short stories. She became a professional writer in 1985 and also teaches creative writing. Lowry has been published in ''Western Word, Far & Wide, Southern Review, Imago, Western Word Magazine, Mind Moon Circle, Fremantle Arts Review, Speculum Magazine, Naked Eye, Westerly Magazine'' and ''

Australian Book Review ''Australian Book Review'' is an Australian arts and literary review. Created in 1961, ''ABR'' is an independent non-profit organisation that publishes articles, reviews, commentaries, essays, and new writing. The aims of the magazine are " ...

''.

Awards

''Guitar Highway Rose'' won the 1999 Avis Page Award in the West Australian Young Readers' Book Awards and was shortlisted for the 1998

Children's Book Council of Australia A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

Readers Book of the Year (Older Readers). It was also shortlisted in the 2006 LIANZA Esther Glen Junior Fiction Award. In 2006 ''With Lots of Love from Georgia'' won the Young Adult Fiction category at the

New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are a series of literary awards presented annually to recognise excellence in children's and young adult's literature in New Zealand. The awards were founded in 1982, and have had severa ...

, and was included in the 2006 Storylines Notable Young Adult Fiction Book list. ''Tomorrow All Will Be Beautiful'' won the 2008 Victorian Premier's Prize for Young Adult Fiction and was a finalist in the Young Adult Fiction category at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. ''Juicy Writing: Inspiration and Techniques for Young Writers'' was included in the 2009 Storylines Notable Non-Fiction Book list and was shortlisted in the non-fiction category in the 2009 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards. Lowry received the 2008 Grimshaw Sargeson Fellowship with

Paula Morris Paula Jane Kiri Morris (born 18 August 1965) is a New Zealand novelist, short-story writer editor and literary academic. She is an associate professor at the University of Auckland and founder of the Academy of New Zealand Literature. Life Mor ...

. In 2004 she was the

University of Otago College of Education The University of Otago College of Education is a teacher-training facility that is part of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. It was formed on 1 January 2007 through a merger of the University of Otago's Faculty of Education with ...

Creative New Zealand Children's Writer in Residence. In February 2017, Lowry was the visiting writer at the

Michael King Writers Centre The Michael King Writers Centre is a writing centre on the slope of Takarunga / Mount Victoria in Devonport, Auckland, New Zealand, which offers residencies to early career and experienced writers. It was established in 2005 in honour of New ...

Published works

* ''Fizz, Max & Me'' (1993, Pan Australia) * ''Guitar Highway Rose'' (1996, Allen and Unwin, reissued in 2004) * ''Follow the Blue'' (2001, Allen and Unwin) * ''Spacecamp'' (2002, Allen and Unwin), co-authored with son, Sam Field * ''With Lots of Love from Georgia'' (2005, Allen and Unwin) * ''Tomorrow All Will Be Beautiful'' (2007, Allen & Unwin) * ''Juicy Writing: Inspiration and Techniques for Young Writers'' (2008, Allen & Unwin), non-fiction * '' Triple Ripple'' (2011, Allen and Unwin) * ''Still Life with Teapot: On Zen, Memoir and Creativity'' (2016, Fremantle Press), memoir * ''A Year of Loving Kindess To Myself and other essays.'' (2021, Fremantle Press), memoir

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowry, Brigid Living people 1953 births Writers from Auckland University of Western Australia alumni Curtin University alumni New Zealand fiction writers New Zealand women novelists New Zealand women short story writers New Zealand women poets New Zealand women children's writers New Zealand children's writers Writers from Nelson, New Zealand