Josh (JP Pomare), (Ngā Puhi), grew up the youngest child of four, on a farm outside of Rotorua. After high school, he studied politics, media and creative writing briefly at university before heading abroad.
He continued to write and hone his craft having a number of essays, reviews and short stories published throughout the years before he focussed on writing a novel. His debut novel, Call Me Evie is set in Maketu in the Bay of Plenty. It was published to critical acclaim in Australia, the UK and USA. In The Clearing, his second novel was published at the beginning of the year. He has received and been short listed for a number of prizes including the Ngaio Marsh award for best first novel, The Ngaio Marsh award for best crime novel (shortlist) KYD Unpublished Manuscript Prize, Ellen Kemp Memorial Prize, and The Kingi Mckinnon Scholarship.
His work has appeared in numerous journals and publications including Kill Your Darlings, Mascara Literary Review, The New Zealand Listener, The Lifted Brow, Meanjin and Takahe. He also hosts and produces the podcast On Writing.
Our third residency for the year Josh is working on his third novel.