Rosetta Allan on Stephanie Johnson:

Stephanie Johnson, MNZM, is a literary rock star. Her work spans decades and numerous genres, including stage, television and radio, poetry, and fiction. Her diverse, complex body of work is notable for its empathy, intelligence and wit, exhibiting her mastery of story and style, and an abiding interest in the complexities of relationships and societies. It’s unsurprising that she’s won many awards – including the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship and the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for fiction – or that she was appointed, in 2019, appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature.

From the outset, her work has displayed a unique ability to explore complex characters and deeply rooted social issues. Her debut novel, Crimes of Neglect (1992), introduced readers to her trademark irony and unflinching focus on human frailties – still on display in her most recent novel, Kind (2023). Novels like The Heart’s Wild Surf (1996), The Shag Incident (2002), The Open World (2012), and Belief (2000) showcase her talent for creating multi-dimensional characters who navigate the complexities of their own lives, exploring themes of cultural identity, displacement, and personal transformation, set against a backdrop of significant historical and social changes. In her fiction she has explored alternative histories, satire, metafiction, the grotesque. She has written under a pseudonym; her work traverses countries, empires and eras. ‘The beauty of the novel in full sail will never be lost,’ she wrote in the satire The Writing Class, ‘even as we choke in a plume of electronic soot.’

Beyond her publications, Stephanie’s contributions to Aotearoa New Zealand’s literary scene have been immense. She has taught and mentored countless emerging writers, demonstrating her generosity and commitment to fostering Aotearoa New Zealand’s literary talent In 1998, with the late Peter Wells, she founded the Auckland Writers Festival. ‘In a sense,’ she wrote in 2021, ‘we had to educate Aucklanders as to what a writers festival was … [We wanted] to provide a venue outside the universities where people could come together to be inspired by ideas. And these ideas, just as in recent festivals, were to spring from every field of human endeavour – scientific, culinary, horticultural, poetical, political, literary, from the visual and dramatic arts.’ At first the festival ran every two years ‘because we were not sure that Aucklanders would come if we ran the festival annually. It might be too much, too soon.’ It is now one of the largest and most prestigious literary festivals in the Southern Hemisphere.

After the launch of Kind, a number of us walked from The Women’s Bookshop on Ponsonby Road to Stephanie’s home. The old villa was warm, inviting, and full of life. Her daughter’s family had recently moved in, and I couldn’t help wondering how three generations managed to fit in the Victorian idea of a home with a typically long hallway that took up a disproportionate amount of space and a small kitchen out the back. A well-loved kauri table took up most of the kitchen space, and we made a happy cluster around it, with any overflow making their way out onto the back porch overlooking the vegetable garden. The house brimmed with laughter, and I could feel the love from Stephanie for her friends and family. When asked about her favourite smell is, she said it was her granddaughters, Una and Rho: ‘they smell like sunshine and hope.’

Stephanie’s strength lies not only in her extensive literary achievements but also in her role as a mentor, ambassador, friend, and matriarch. She embodies the kind of generosity, honesty and courage that makes her a beacon for those around her. For other writers, her no-nonsense approach is a guiding light and a reminder to stay true to the work and never shy away from the truth. There’s no room for anything less than that in Stephanie Johnson’s world.

 

---

 

Bio:

Novelist, short story writer and poet Stephanie Johnson has also successfully written for stage, television and radio over a career that spans three decades. Her diverse work is marked by its mixture of irony, intelligence and compassion. In the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours Stephanie was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature. She was recently announced as the 2022 recipient of the prestigious Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction.

Since the much loved The Heart’s Wild Surf (1996), Stephanie has published eleven more novels. She is a past winner of the Montana Book Award (The Shag Incident), while her novel The Whistler won third prize in the Montana Book Awards (1999), and her novel Belief was shortlisted for the Montana Book Awards (2001). She has been awarded the Katherine Mansfield Fellowship in Menton, France (2000), made a Literary Fellow at Auckland University (2001), and was a recipient of the Bruce Mason Memorial Playwright’s Award (1985). Several of her novels have been longlisted for the Impac Awards in Dublin. She was also winner of the Dymocks/Quote Unquote Reader’s Poll, Best New Zealand Book for The Heart’s Wild Surf (1996). Her novel, Crimes of Neglect, was shortlisted for the Wattie Book Awards (1993).

With Peter Wells, Stephanie founded the highly successful Auckland Writers and Readers Festival in 1998. In addition, she has been guest speaker at various festivals, both in New Zealand and internationally, taught a broad range of writing classes and is involved in ongoing mentorship and manuscript assessments. Stephanie was the 2016 recipient of both the Randell Cottage Residency, Wellington, and Alumna Merita Award, Diocesan School for Girls, Auckland.

Playing for Both Sides (BWB, 2016) is a personal exploration of the Australia-New Zealand relationship. In 2016 Stephanie also edited Good Dog! New Zealand Writers on Dogs (Penguin Random House) an anthology of dog-related poetry, short fiction and creative nonfiction. Other recent works are a biographical investigation entitled West Island: Five Twentieth-century New Zealanders in Australia (Otago UP, 2019) and Everything Changes (RHNZ Vintage, 2021) a novel about a dysfunctional family who buy a rundown motel to start a new life. Everything Changes was the winner of the 2021 NZ Society of Authors Heritage Prize for Fiction.

Stephanie’s most recent work Kind (RHNZ, 2023) is a funny, fearless, thought-provoking novel that rains its sights on us with super yachts and stereotypes, #MeToo blunders and post-apocalyptic bolt holes, locking down and locking up.

 

Links

Read NZ Te Pou Muramura writer page

Random House Books author page

NZ Prime Minster’s Award for Literary Acheivement 2022 – Recipients announced (Dec, 2022)

The Shape We’re In: Stephanie Johnson’s University of Auckland Free Public Lecture, Auckland Writers Festival (May, 2021)

ANZL review of Everything Changes (March, 2021)

Radio New Zealand interview (2015)

NZ Listener review of The Writers’ Festival (2015)

NZ Listener review of The Writing Class (2013)