Joanna Orwin (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Lucas; born 28 November 1944) is a New Zealand writer of fiction and non-fiction for adults and children. Several of her books have been shortlisted for or have won awards, including Children's Book of the Year in 1985 and the Senior Fiction category of the New Zealand Post Book awards for Children and Young Adults in 2002. She lives in

Christchurch, New Zealand Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over half a million. It is located in ...

Biography

Joanna Orwin was born on 28 November 1944 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 ...

. Her father Richard Arthur Lucas was an ear, nose, and throat specialist. She grew up in Nelson and family holidays at Lake Rotoiti helped to inspire her love of the New Zealand landscape. She cites some of her favourite childhood reading as myths and legends, adventure stories like ''

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure a ...

'' and ''

Swallows and Amazons ''Swallows and Amazons'' is a children's adventure novel by English author Arthur Ransome first published on 21 July 1930 by Jonathan Cape. Set in the summer of 1929 in the Lake District, the book introduces the main characters of John, Sus ...

'', historical fiction by

Rosemary Sutcliff Rosemary Sutcliff (14 December 1920 – 23 July 1992) was an English novelist best known for children's books, especially historical fiction and retellings of myths and legends. Although she was primarily a children's author, some of her novel ...

Henry Treece Henry Treece (22 December 1911 – 10 June 1966) was a British poet and writer who also worked as a teacher and editor. He wrote a range of works but is mostly remembered as a writer of children's historical novels. Life and work Treece was ...

and

Geoffrey Trease Robert Geoffrey Trease FRSL (11 August 1909 – 27 January 1998) was a prolific British writer who published 113 books, mainly for children, between 1934 and 1997, starting with '' Bows Against the Barons'' and ending with ''Cloak for a Spy'' i ...

and fantasy such as

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven portal fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, the series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia (wor ...

, ''

At the Back of the North Wind ''At the Back of the North Wind'' is a children's book written by Scottish author George MacDonald. It was serialized in the children's magazine '' Good Words for the Young'' beginning in 1868 and was published in book form in 1871. It is a fa ...

'', and ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' is an 1894 collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...

.'' She won prizes for poetry and essay writing at

Nelson College for Girls Nelson College for Girls is an all-girls state school in Nelson, New Zealand. Established in 1883, it has close ties with the all-boys Nelson College and has a private Preparatory School. Nelson College for Girls was one of the highest rankings ...

, but went on to study botany and physical geography at university, graduating with a BSc (Hons) in botany, and worked for the

New Zealand Forest Service New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

as a plant ecologist and a science editor. Later she also worked as a consultant researcher, writer, and editor. Her writing includes scientific papers, articles for

Te Ara ''Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand'' is an online encyclopedia established in 2001 by the New Zealand Government's Ministry for Culture and Heritage. The web-based content was developed in stages over the next several years; the first s ...

, non-fiction history texts, novels for children and young adults and short stories in anthologies such as ''Down to the Sea Again'' (HarperCollins, 2005) and the ''Annual'' (Gecko Press, 2016). Her novels often carry underlying themes of the natural environment, New Zealand history, flora and fauna and

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 ...

folklore and heritage, and they are informed by her knowledge of geology and the landscape. The ''Ihaka'' novels are set in

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States, lying between the states of Delaware and New Jersey. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltw ...

, near Nelson. ''Guardian of the Land'' is set in

Kaikōura Kaikōura (; ) is a town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand, located on New Zealand State Highway 1, State Highway 1, north of Christchurch. The town has an estimated permanent resident population of as of . Kaikōura is th ...

and ''The Watcher in the Forest'' is set in the area around Murchison and

Lewis Pass Lewis Pass is the northernmost of the three main mountain passes through the Southern Alps in the South Island of New Zealand. With an elevation of 907 metres, it is slightly lower than Arthur's Pass and higher than Haast Pass. The pass is ...

. She received history grants for her two adult non-fiction books. ''

Riccarton Riccarton may refer to: New Zealand * Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch ** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it ** The location of Riccarton Race Course * a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago Scot ...

and the Deans Family: History and Heritage'' was shortlisted for the 2016 New Zealand Heritage Book and Writing Awards. Several of her children's books have been shortlisted for 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 ...

or named as Storylines Notable Books. Her two ''Ihaka'' novels were among the books mentioned by

Tessa Duder Tessa Duder (née Staveley, born 13 November 1940) is a New Zealand author of novels for young people, short stories, plays and non-fiction, and a former swimmer who won a silver medal for her country at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealt ...

in an article on the history of children's literature in New Zealand. Orwin married wool scientist Donald Francis Ginn Orwin in 1968. They had three children. Her husband died in 1989. She currently lives in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

Awards and Prizes

In 2009, Joanna Orwin was the University of Otago College of Education / Creative New Zealand Children's Writer in Residence. ''The Guardian of the Land'' won the Children's Book of the Year Award in 1985. ''Owl'' won the Senior Fiction category of the

New Zealand Post 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 ...

in 2002.

Bibliography

Adult non-fiction ''Four Generations from Maoridom: The Memoirs of Syd Cormack'' ''As Told to Joanna Orwin'' (Otago University Press, 1997) ''Kauri: Witness to a Nation's History'' (New Holland, 2004) ''Riccarton and the Deans family'': ''History and Heritage'' (Bateman Publishing, 2015) Adult fiction ''Shifting Currents'' (Joanna Orwin, 2020) ''Collision'' (HarperCollins, 2009) Children's and Young Adult fiction ''Ihaka and the Summer Wandering'', illustrated by

Robyn Kahukiwa Robyn Fletcher Kahukiwa (14 September 1938 – 11 April 2025) was a New Zealand artist, children's book author and illustrator. She created a significant collection of paintings, books, prints, drawings, and sculptures. Background Kahukiwa was ...

(Oxford University Press, 1982) ''Ihaka and the Prophecy'', ill.

(Oxford University Press, 1984) ''The Guardian of the Land'' (Oxford University Press, 1985) reprinted in the Collins Modern New Zealand Classic series (Harper Collins, 2005) ''Watcher in the Forest'' (Oxford University Press, 1987) ''The Tar Dragon'', ill. Wendy Hodder (Scholastic, 1997) ''Owl'' (Longacre Press, 2001) ''Out of Tune'' (Longacre Press, 2004) ''Kauri in My Blood: The Diary of Laura Ann Findlay, the Coromandel, 1921–24'' My Story series">My Story (Scholastic New Zealand)">My Story series(Scholastic, 2007) ''Sacrifice'' (HarperCollins, 2011)

References

External links

Official Website
* Profile o
Joanna Orwin
on Read NZ Te Pou Muramura website {{DEFAULTSORT:Orwin, Joanna Living people New Zealand children's writers New Zealand women children's writers 21st-century New Zealand women writers 20th-century New Zealand women writers New Zealand women non-fiction writers 1944 births People educated at Nelson College for Girls Writers from Christchurch