Cassia Joy Cowley (; born 7 August 1936) is a New Zealand author best known for her children's fiction, including the popular series of books Mrs. Wishy-Washy.

Writing career

Cowley started out writing novels for adults, and her first book, ''Nest in a Falling Tree'' (1967), was adapted for the screen by

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

. It became the 1971 film '' The Night Digger''. Following its success in the United States, Cowley wrote several other novels, including ''Man of Straw'' (1972), ''Of Men and Angels'' (1972), ''The Mandrake Root'' (1975), and ''The Growing Season'' (1979). Typical themes of these works were marital infidelity,

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

, and death, as experienced within families. Cowley has also published several collections of short stories, including ''Two of a Kind'' (with Mona Williams, 1984) and ''Heart Attack and Other Stories'' (1985). Today she is best known for children's books, such as ''The Silent One'' (1981), which was made into a 1985 film. Others include ''Bow Down Shadrach'' (1991) and its sequel, ''Gladly, Here I Come'' (1994). Cowley has written forty-one picture books, such as ''The Duck in the Gun'' (1969), ''The Terrible Taniwha of Timberditch'' (1982), ''Salmagundi'' (1985), and ''The Cheese Trap'' (1995). ''The Duck in the Gun'' and ''Salmagundi'' are explicitly

anti-war An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conf ...

books. She has been actively involved in teaching early reading skills and helping those with reading difficulties, in which capacity she has written approximately 500

basal reader Basal readers are textbooks used to teach reading (process), reading and associated skills to schoolchildren. Commonly called "reading books" or "readers" they are usually published as Anthology, anthologies that combine previously published sh ...

s (termed ''reading books'' in New Zealand).

Honours and awards

In 1990, Cowley was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal, and in the 1992 New Year Honours she was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to children's literature. The following year she was granted an Honorary Doctorate of Letters (D.Litt.) from

Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...

, and was awarded the

New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal The New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 was established by Royal Warrant on 1 July 1993. It was created to commemorate Women's suffrage in New Zealand and to recognize those New Zealand and Commonwealth citizens who had made a significant ...

. In 1993, Cowley became the third recipient of the

Margaret Mahy Award The Margaret Mahy Award, officially the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal and Lecture Award, is a New Zealand literary prize presented to a person who has made a significant contribution to children's literature, publishing or literacy. Presented an ...

, whose winners present and publish a lecture concerning children's literature or literacy. Cowley's lecture was titled
Influences
''. The award is presented by th
Storylines Childrens Literature Charitable Trust
who established the Joy Cowley Award in 2002, in recognition of the "exceptional contribution Joy Cowley makes to both children's literature and literacy in New Zealand and internationally". In 2004, she became a patron of th
Storylines Childrens Literature Foundation
, and she is one of Storylines' trustees. At least one of her books has been on th

every year since it was established in 2000, other than 2009 and 2011 (in 2012 she was given a "special mention"). In 2002, she was awarded the Roberta Long Medal, presented by the

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1969 and part of the University of Alabama System, UAB has grown to be the state's largest employer, with more than ...

for culturally diverse children's literature. In 2004, she was awarded the A. W. Reed Award for Contribution to New Zealand Literature, and in 2010, she won the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in the Fiction category. Cowley has won the overall Book of the Year award three times at the various incarnations of the

New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards 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 ...

: first for ''The Silent One'' in 1982; then for ''Hunter'' in 2006; and finally for ''Snake and Lizard'' in 2008. The latter two books were entered into the Junior Fiction category, in which she also won the category award for her books ''Ticket to the Sky Dance'' in 1998, ''Starbright and the Dream Eater'' in 1999, and ''Shadrach Girl'' in 2001. She won the Children's Choice award in this category for ''Friends: Snake and Lizard'' in 2010. She won the now defunct Fiction category in 1992 for ''Bow Down Shadrach'', and the Picture Book category in 2002 for ''Brodie''. An additional five of her books have been short-listed as finalists in the Picture Book category at the awards, and an additional three in the Junior Fiction category. Cowley's book ''The Video Shop Sparrow'' was included in the 2000 White Ravens List, administered by the

International Youth Library The International Youth Library (IYL) (, IJB) in Munich is a library that specializes in the collection of children and youth literature from around the world in order to make them available to the public, focusing on the international community. ...

, and five of her books have been finalists for the Esther Glen Award from 1995 to 2010. She won Best Script Television Drama at the 1994 TV Guide Television Awards for ''Mother Tongue'', a 52-minute film shot in 1992, and set in 1953, about an 18-year-old couple who fall in love – although the woman (played by Sarah Smuts-Kennedy) is

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, and the man (played by Craig Parker) is Jewish. In the 2005 Queen’s Birthday Honours, Cowley was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DCNZM), for services to children's literature. In 2009, when the New Zealand government restored titular honours, Cowley declined redesignation as a dame. Cowley was made a

Member of the Order of New Zealand The Order of New Zealand is the highest honour in the New Zealand royal honours system, created "to recognise outstanding service to the Crown and people of New Zealand in a civil or military capacity". It was instituted by Royal warrant (documen ...

(ONZ), for services to New Zealand, in the

2018 New Year Honours The 2018 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

. In 2020, she received an

Arts Foundation of New Zealand The Arts Foundation of New Zealand Te Tumu Toi is a New Zealand arts organisation that supports artistic excellence and facilitates private philanthropy through raising funds for the arts and allocating it to New Zealand artists. The foundatio ...

Icon Award, limited to 20 living people.

Personal life

Cowley has been married three times, first at twenty years old to dairy farmer Ted Cowley, with whom she had four children. After their marriage ended in 1967, Cowley married Malcolm Mason, a Wellington writer and accountant who died in 1985. In 1989, Cowley married Terry Coles, a former Catholic priest. She lived with him, and an assortment of animals, for many years in the

Marlborough Sounds The Marlborough Sounds (Māori language, te reo Māori: ''Te Tauihu-o-te-Waka'') are an extensive network of ria, sea-drowned valleys at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination ...

, but in 2004 they moved to a wharf apartment in

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 ...

so Coles could be nearer medical services. As Coles' health deteriorated, Wellington's stairs and traffic became too much for him, and the couple moved again to Featherston, where Cowley now lives. She has 13 grandchildren and still writes full-time. Coles died in September 2022.

Recent publications

*1986 – ''Turnips For Dinner'', illustrated by Jan van der Voo, 16pp., *1986 – ''The King's Pudding'', illustrated by Martin Bailey, 16pp., *2007 – ''Snake and Lizard'', illustrated by Gavin Bishop, 102pp.,(

Gecko Press Gecko Press is an independent publisher of children's books based in Wellington, New Zealand. The company was founded in 2005 by Julia Marshall, formerly of Appelberg Publishing Agency, winner of the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal 2021. Marshall ...

), *2009 – ''Friends: Snake and Lizard'', illustrated by Gavin Bishop, 144pp.,(Gecko Press), *2010 – ''The Fierce Little Woman and the Wicked Pirate'', 40pp.,(Gecko Press), *2011 – ''Stories of the Wild West Gang'', 362pp.,(Gecko Press), *2013 – ''Dunger'', 156pp.,(Gecko Press), *2014 – ''

Speed of Light The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant exactly equal to ). It is exact because, by international agreement, a metre is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time i ...

'', 208pp.,(Gecko Press), *2015 – ''The Bakehouse'', 140pp.,(Gecko Press), *2016 – ''The Road to Ratenburg'', 200pp.,(Gecko Press) *2017 – ''Helper and Helper'', 128pp.,(Gecko Press) *2018 - '' Snake and Lizard Anniversary Edition'', illustrated by Gavin Bishop, 102pp.,(Gecko Press)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowley, Joy 1936 births Living people New Zealand women novelists Distinguished Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Levin, New Zealand People from Featherston, New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand novelists Recipients of the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 Members of the Order of New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand women writers New Zealand children's writers New Zealand women children's writers