Joan Druett is a New Zealand historian and novelist, specialising in

maritime history Maritime history is the study of human interaction with and activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant. As an academic subject, it ...

and crime fiction.

Life

Joan Druett was born in

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, and raised in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...

, moving to New Zealand's capital city,

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, when she was 16. She gained her Bachelor of Arts in English literature from the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

, and then worked as a teacher of biology and English literature for many years before publishing her first full-length book when she was 40. She travelled extensively in her 20s – including to Canada, where she lived for a while, Britain and the Middle East. She went to America as a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the peopl ...

in 1986, and returned there in 1992 as historian/writer for a museum exhibit, "The Sailing Circle: Seafaring Women of New York," living in

Orient The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, where she and her husband, Ron, a maritime artist, were artists in residence at the William Steeple Davis Trust house and studio. While Ron painted and exhibited at galleries such as

Mystic Seaport Mystic Seaport Museum (founded as Marine Historical Association) is a maritime museum in Mystic, Connecticut, and the largest in the United States. Its site holds a collection of ships and boats and a re-creation of a 19th-century seaport vill ...

Gallery, she researched and wrote historical novels and books on maritime history. In late 1996, she and Ron returned to New Zealand, and set up house in Wellington in 1997. In 2001, she was the John David Stout Fellow at the Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies, Victoria University, and is still an associate. She was married to the late Ron Druett (1934-2020) and has two sons, with also six grandchildren.author's website biography
/ref> Ron was a well-regarded maritime artist and illustrated many of her histories.Dann (2007) p. 16

Writing career

While her first novel wasn't published until she was 40 years old, Druett always wanted to write and had written professionally from her teen years.Dann (2007) p. 15 She wrote science fiction stories for American magazines, and stories for a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

magazine using the pseudonym Jo Friday. She also did some freelance travel-writing. Her first book, ''Exotic Intruders'', was the result of a publisher's request for a book about the introduction to New Zealand of plants and animals by sailing ships. Since then she has written extensively in maritime history – particularly looking at wives at sea – and also historical and maritime novels. In her later career, she has become best known for her Wiki Coffin novels, historical mysteries focusing on the eponymous half-Māori seaman protagonist. The Wiki character grew out of her research into real people, including descriptions of a Maori sailor in a midshipman's journal from the first half of the nineteenth century. In addition to the novels, Druett has also published several short stories featuring Wiki Coffin in ''

Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine ''Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine'' (''AHMM'') is a bi-monthly digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime and detective fiction. ''AHMM'' is named for Alfred Hitchcock, the famed director of suspense films and television. History ''AH ...

''.

Awards

* c.1983: Hubert Church Award for ''Exotic Intruders'' * c.1983:

PEN PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

Award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

for Best First Book of Prose in New Zealand for ''Exotic Intruders'' * 1986: Fulbright Award to carry out research at museums in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

and Hawaii * 1992: John Lyman Award for Best Book of American Maritime History for ''She was a Sister Sailor, the Whaling Journals of Mary Brewster'' * 1998:

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

's 25 Best Books to Remember for ''Hen Frigates: Wives of Merchant Captains Under Sail'' * 2000: L. Byrne Waterman Award, for contributions to maritime history and women's history * 2001: John David Stout Fellow, Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand * 2012: NZPost Best General Non-Fiction Book Award, for '' Tupaia: the Remarkable Story of Captain Cook's Polynesian Navigator''

Selected works

Non-fiction

* (1983) ''Exotic Intruders: The Introduction of Plants and Animals to New Zealand''. Auckland, NZ: Heinemann. * (1988) ''Fulbright in New Zealand''. Wellington, NZ: NZ-US Educational Foundation. * (1991) ''Petticoat Whalers: Whaling Wives at Sea''. Auckland, NZ: Collins * (1992) ''She Was a Sister Sailor, the Whaling Journals of Mary Brewster, 1845–1851''. Mystic Seaport Museum * (1995) ''Captain's Daughter, Coasterman's Wife: Carrie Hubbard Davis of Orient''. Orient, NY: Oysterponds Historical Society * (1995) ''The Sailing Circle, 19th Century Seafaring Women from New York''. (With Mary Anne Wallace.) Long Island: Three Village Historical Society & Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum * (1998) ''Hen Frigates, Wives of Merchant Captains Under Sail''. New York:

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

* (2000) ''She Captains, Heroines and Hellions of the Sea''. New York: Simon & Schuster. * (2001) ''Rough Medicine: Surgeons at Sea Under Sail''. New York and London:

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

* (2003) ''In the Wake of Madness, the Murderous Voyage of the Whaleship Sharon''. New York: Algonquin Books; Auckland:

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

* (2007) ''Island of the Lost, Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World''. New York: Algonquin; Sydney, Australia:

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It became one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and established an Australian ...

* (2010) '' Tupaia: Captain Cook's Polynesian Navigator''. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger; (2011) Auckland, New Zealand:

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

, * (2014) ''Eleanor's Odyssey: Journal of the Captain's Wife on the East Indiaman Friendship, 1799-1801''. Old Salt Press. * (2015) ''Lady Castaways''. Old Salt Press.

Fiction

Wiki Coffin series

Historical crime series set during the

United States Exploring Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

through the Pacific Ocean by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

1838–1842. * ''A Watery Grave'', 2004 * ''Shark Island'', 2005 * ''Run Afoul'', 2006 * ''Deadly Shoals'', 2007 * "Brethren of the Sea" ( AHMM, November 2004) * "Fallen" ( AHMM, January/February 2006) * ''The Beckoning Ice'', 2013,

Other fiction

* ''Abigail'' * ''A promise of Gold'' * ''Murder at the Brian Boru'' * ''Daughters of the Storm'' * ''Storm Swept''

Notes

References

External links

* http://www.joan.druett.gen.nz {{DEFAULTSORT:Druett, Joan Historians of the Pacific Historical novelists Women historical novelists Living people New Zealand women historians New Zealand maritime historians New Zealand women novelists Victoria University of Wellington alumni 1939 births New Zealand crime fiction writers New Zealand mystery writers 20th-century New Zealand novelists 21st-century New Zealand novelists 21st-century New Zealand women writers Women crime fiction writers Writers of historical mysteries 20th-century New Zealand women writers 20th-century New Zealand historians 21st-century New Zealand historians