KEY POINTS:
Children's author Joy Cowley has won many awards, but she has no shortage of brutally honest young critics. Her readers tell it like it is, and she would have it no other way.
Cowley, who at 72 has a writing spanning almost 50 years, was last night awarded the New Zealand Post Book of the Year prize for her novel Snake and Lizard.
It is her fourth book of the year award, and one of many accolades over the decades.
But it is feedback from her young audience that perhaps means the most, and this is why she spends a lot of time travelling New Zealand and the world, attending conferences and events and running writing workshops.
Cowley says the day she is no longer working with children will be the day she will stop writing for them.
"I get a lot of energy from children around me and also from their letters. I get a huge amount of mail," she says.
"I always reply, so sometimes other correspondence is delayed because I think children's letters have to come first."
The letters are wonderful, and often very funny, she says.
"There was a girl in California, a 9-year-old, and she asked the usual questions - do you have any pets and what are your children's names and the last question was, 'Are you still alive?' I did have to look in the mirror," she laughs.
"And you get such honest feedback from children. They're not disingenuous at all, they're just so direct and honest."
Cowley remembers disappointing a 6-year-old boy at a small country school near Levin after spending time telling the children stories and talking to them.
"He was right in front of me and he was so attentive. It came to question time and he said, 'How long did it take to write Lion in the Meadow?' and I said, 'Well, I didn't write Lion in the Meadow, Margaret Mahy did,' and he said, 'You mean you're not Margaret Mahy', and he was trembling on the point of tears. I felt so guilty, and his interest went just like that."
Children were also very honest critics.
" I went into a school in ... Blenheim and had four manuscripts. I used to trial all reading books before I sent them to the publisher," Cowley says.
"Two of the stories were okay, one needed editing and one got no response, no energy from the class - they were fiddling with the Velcro on their shoes and nudging each other.
"And I said, 'What's wrong with that story?' and the boy in front of me didn't even put up his hand, he said, 'It's boring.' And I said, 'Well, which part of it's boring?' because I thought maybe I could rewrite that part and he said, 'All of it.' And he was right."
But Cowley also appreciates the response she gets from adults.
"I was introduced to someone on the street yesterday, a woman in her 40s, and she said, 'I grew up with your books', and it is such a lovely feeling of community because writing is a lonely process.
"Essentially it's a form of communication that has to be done in solitude. So to get that feedback is great."
Cowley says that at her age the most rewarding thing for her now is meeting adult writers whom she mentored as children.
She says teachers often encourage gifted children to write to her for mentoring, and while she sometimes loses track of them as they get older, some stay in touch.
"Occasionally someone will come up and tell me they've just had their first book published, or another one will be an editor of a magazine. And quite a number, too, become teachers and pass on the love of literature."
- NZPA
REPTILIAN FRIENDS TICKLE JUDGES
Snake and Lizard, written by Cowley and illustrated by Christchurch's Gavin Bishop, won the Junior Fiction category and was named Book of the Year at the New Zealand Post Book Awards last night
Judges' convener Dylan Owen said Snake and Lizard brought together the best of New Zealand writing and illustration.
"Cowley's book impressed the judges with its assured writing, humour and gentle, unforced observations on the nature of friendship," he said.
"Both witty and wise these timeless stories are an utter joy. They make you laugh, sigh and read all over again."
Cowley, 72, did not attend the ceremony in Wellington as she is presenting writing workshops for the Ministry of Education in Singapore.
