A Treasury of NZ Poems for Children

 Paula Green writes:

To celebrate A Treasury of NZ Poems for Children (Random House, released yesterday), I invited children and classes to interview authors in the book. 

Authors include Gavin Bishop, Fiona Farrell, Bill Nagelkirke, Robert Sullivan, Patricia Grace, David Hill, Richard Langston,  Elizabeth Smither, Emma Neale, Kyle Mewburn, Ruth Paul, Melanie Drewery, Jenny Bornholdt, Glenn Colquhoun, Tessa Duder, Melinda Szymanik, John Parker along with two of the illustrator, Jenny Cooper.

I have nearly sixty interviews to post between now and November 8th. I am trying to coincide some of the interviews with where I am on tour. So on Oct 13th and 14th, I will post interviews by Gisborne children when I am in Gisborne!

I decided to launch the series with Gemma’s interview with one of our most beloved children’s authors.

Joy Cowley was born in 1936, and now might be New Zealand’s most famous author of children’s books. She lives in Featherston with her husband Terry. Joy helps lots of New Zealanders to be interested in creative writing. Storylines made the Joy Cowley Award in her honour. Joy is an amazing, generous person who is an inspiration to us all. She has published lots of children’s books, including several poetry collections.

 Gemma Lovewell lives in Wellington with her parents and younger brother, in a house filled with books. She goes to Adventure School, and loves to try everything life has to offer. Gemma wrote her first poem when she was 3 years old, and has since then has had articles, stories and poems published in magazines, newspapers and on websites. With the help of Joy Cowley, she also published a book called The Big Box when she was five.

The Interview
Q: I know that you have had a lot of pets, can speak Spanish, and learned to fly a plane. What are three little known facts about Joy Cowley that you could share?
A:

1. When I was nineteen. I used to ride motor cycles in cross country races.
2. My grandchildren and I used to have mud fights and then go into the sea with our clothes on, to wash it off.
3. I have a diploma in wood-turning.

Q: Us kiwi kids have been lucky to grow up with you and your stories. Who was the Joy Cowley when you were a child?

A: I was a shy child and a slow learner. I didn’t become a fluent reader until I was nearly ten. But I loved stories and made up stories to tell my sisters, almost every night.

Q: How do you come up with the names for characters? Do you use the names of people you know? And how do you come up with the funny names like Mrs Wishy Washy, Greedy Cat and The Meanies?
A: I like the sound of words and try to choose appropriate names. My next book “Ratenburg” is about a family of rats that go on a long journey. Since rats’ names are chosen according to their environment, the father who was born on a boat is called Spinnaker Rat. His four children, born at the back of a Greek restaurant and called Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta, and their mother is Retsina.

 For the rest of the interview got to http://nzpoetrybox.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/launching-the-treasury-interviews-gemma-interviews-joy-cowley/