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

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

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'','' is partly autobiographical.

Background

Johnson was born in

, New Zealand 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 New Women's Press (NWP) was an independent book publisher founded in Auckland, New Zealand in 1982. New Women's Press's mandate was to publish books "by, for, and about women." Wendy Harrex ran New Women's Press for 11 years. Over that time, ...

), 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 W ...

, ''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 Award Wattie or Watty is a masculine given name or nickname, often a diminutive form of Walter, and a surname. It may refer to: Given name or nickname * Walter Aitkenhead (1887–1966), Scottish footballer * Walter Watty Allan (1868–1943), Scottish ...

s. ''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 ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

. 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 ...

, 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 rend ...

, for services to literature. In 2022 she received the

Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement is a New Zealand literary award established in 2003 by the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand), the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government. Each ...

in Fiction.

Fellowships and residencies

Johnson received the 2000

New Zealand Post Katherine Mansfield Prize The Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, formerly known as the New Zealand Post Katherine Mansfield Prize and the Meridian Energy Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellowship, is one of New Zealand's foremost literary awards. Named after Katherin ...

, allowing her to travel to Menton, France. She received the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn ...

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