Joan Rosier-Jones was born in Christchurchand has lived in London, Wellington and Auckland, and now lives in Wanganui. She started her working life as a teacher and after her first novel, Cast Two Shadows, was published in 1986 she combined the two loves of her life – teaching and writing – to become a tutor in creative writing.
Using her teaching experience Joan has written two how-to-write books. So You want to Write is a guide to creative writing and Writing Your Family History takes the reader through the process of turning their family stories and memoirs into readable form. She has also written correspondence courses around these two books for the New Zealand Institute of Business Studies. Her novel, Voyagers, was based on her own family history, drawing on the stories that her parents told her as a child. Her other novels are Canterbury Tales, 1990, Mother Tongue, 1996, and Yes, 2000. Joan is an active member of the New Zealand Society of Authors. From 1999-2001 she was national president and is currently the National Council delegate for Central Districts. When she is not writing herself she loves helping emerging writers to reach their potential and find their true creative centre.
Joan has stayed at the centre in 2008 and 2010. She said of her time at the Michael King Centre, ‘It was pure bliss – a comfortable room of one’s own with all mod.cons and the freedom to write and write and write.’