Joy Cowley

Who is Joy Cowley?

Cassia Joy Cowley, DCNZM, OBE, best known as Joy Cowley, is a New Zealand author of children's fiction, novels, and short stories.

Her first novel, Nest in a Fallen Tree, was adapted into the 1971 film The Night Digger by screenwriter Roald Dahl. Following its success in the United States, Cowley wrote several works for adults: her novels Man of Straw, Of Men and Angels, The Mandrake Root, and The Growing Season typically focused on families dealing with issues such as marital infidelity, mental illness, and death. Cowley has also published several collections of short stories, including Two of a Kind and Heart Attack and Other Stories. Cowley is known primarily for her children's fiction. Her children's novel The Silent One, was made into a 1985 film; other works include Bow Down Shadrach and its sequel Gladly, Here I Come.

She has written 41 picture books, which include The Duck in the Gun, The Terrible Taniwha of Timberditch, Salmagundi, and The Cheese Trap. The Duck in the Gun and Salmagundi are explicitly anti-war 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 readers.