Stephanie Patricia Johnson (born 1961) is a poet, playwright, and short story writer from New Zealand. She lives 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 ...

with her husband, film editor Tim Woodhouse, although she lived in Australia for much of her twenties. Many of her books have been published there, and her non-fiction book ''West Island,'' about

New Zealanders in Australia New Zealand Australians refers to Australian citizens whose origins are in New Zealand, as well as New Zealand migrants and expatriates based in Australia. Migration from New Zealand to Australia is a common phenomenon, given Australia's proxim ...

, is partly autobiographical.

Background

Johnson was born in

in 1961.

Career

Johnson has taught creative writing at the University of Auckland, the University of Waikato, Auckland University of Technology and Massey University. She co-founded the Auckland Writers' Festival with Peter Wells, and served as creative director and trustee.

Published works

Johnson has published novels, poetry, plays, and collections of short stories.

Novels and short stories

* ''The Glass Whittler'' (1989, New Women's Press), short stories * ''Crimes of Neglect'' (1992, New Women's Press), novel * ''All the Tenderness Left in the World'' (1993, Otago University Press), short stories * ''The Heart’s Wild Surf'' (1996, Random House), novel * ''The Whistler'' (1998, Vintage, Random House), novel * ''Belief'' (2000, Vintage, Random House), novel * ''The Shag Incident'' (2002, Vintage, Random House), novel * ''Music From A Distant Room'' (2004, Vintage, Random House) * ''Drowned Sprat and Other Stories'' (2005, Vintage, Random House), short stories * ''John Tomb's Head'' (2006, Vintage, Random House), novel * ''Swimmers' Rope'' (2008, Vintage, Random House) novel * ''The Open World'' (2012, Vintage, Random House), novel * ''The Writing Class'' (2013, Vintage, Random House), novel * ''The Writers’ Festival'' (2015, Vintage, Random House), novel * ''Playing for Both Sides'' (2016, Bridget Williams Books), creative non-fiction * ''West Island: Five Twentieth-century New Zealanders in Australia'' (2019, Otago University Press), creative non-fiction * ''Everything Changes'' (2021, Penguin Random House), novel

Plays and radio dramas

* ''Accidental Phantasies'' (1985), stage play * ''Castle In the Harbour'' (1987), radio drama * ''Folie à Deux'' (1995, with Stuart Hoar), stage play * ''Hard Hitting Documentary'' (1995), radio drama * ''Sparrow’s Pearls'' (1996), radio drama * ''Trout'' (1996), radio drama

Poetry

* ''The Bleeding Ballerina'' (1987, Hard Echo Press), poetry * ''Moody Bitch'' (2003, Godwit), poetry

Honours and awards

In 1985, Johnson won the

Bruce Mason Playwriting Award The Bruce Mason Playwriting Award is an annual award that recognises the work of an outstanding emerging New Zealand playwright. The winner is decided by the votes of a panel of leading New Zealand artistic directors and script advisors. The ...

. In the

Montana New Zealand Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder Wa ...

, ''The Whistler'', was shortlisted for the fiction award in 1999 and ''Belief'' was shortlisted in 2001. ''The Shag Incident'' was awarded the Deutz Medal for Fiction at the 2003 Montana New Zealand Book Awards. Johnson also won the 1996 Dymocks/Quote Unquote Reader's Poll, Best New Zealand Book for ''The Heart’s Wild Surf'' and ''Crimes of Neglect,'' was shortlisted for the 1993 Wattie Book Awards. ''Music From a Distant Room'' (in 2006) and ''John Tomb's Head'' (in 2008) were nominated for

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely ...

. In the

2019 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

, Johnson was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

, for services to literature. In 2022, she received the

Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

in Fiction.

Fellowships and residencies

Johnson received the 2000 New Zealand Post Katherine Mansfield Prize, allowing her to travel to Menton, France. She received the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

Literary Fellowship in 2001. In 2016 she was selected as the Randell Cottage Writer in Residence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Stephanie Living people 1961 births New Zealand fiction writers New Zealand women novelists New Zealand women short story writers Writers from Auckland Academic staff of the University of Waikato Academic staff of the University of Auckland Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand emigrants to Australia New Zealand women poets