Vivienne Joseph

Vivienne was born in Wellington and has lived on the Kapiti Coast for more than seventeen years.

She is a published writer of fiction and non-fiction for adults and children, as well as of poetry.

Her writing career includes regular contributions to the New Zealand School Journal beginning in 1980 and representing a wide range of genres, scriptwriting for Radio New Zealand’s ‘Grampa’s Place’, reviewing and writing a monthly page for The New Zealand Listener for three years.

Her first book of poetry for adults, A Desirable Place, won the PEN First Book Award and her first book for young adults, Worlds Apart, was chosen for the International White Ravens Library.

She has published picture books, junior novels and several educational books for children. 

The Thin Line, a young adult novel and her most recent book, was short listed in the 2003 New Zealand Post Book Awards. 

The A.O.K. Project, a junior novel set in Kapiti, won an Honour Award in an international competition organised by UNESCO which Vivienne travelled to Italy to receive.

At the end of 2007, Vivienne won the Whangarei Northern Advocate National Short Story Competition.  In April, 2008, she was awarded second and Very Highly Commended in the Page & Blackmore National Short Story Competition and was shortlisted in the Rawene Short Story Competition.   She won the Whakatane Friends of the Library National Short Story Competition in 2009.

For many years she has coordinated workshops in creative writing for various secondary schools’ Community Education programmes and the Writing for Children module of Whitireia Polytechnic’s Publishing Course.

Vivienne also tutors Creative Writing for Stotts/Cengage Correspondence School and for the local W.E.A.

Vivienne has worked regularly for The New Zealand Book Council’s Writers’ in Schools programme, visiting schools and running creative writing workshops for children.

Since 2000, she has worked professionally assessing and editing manuscripts and offering mentoring services.

Vivienne descrbes her inspiration as coming from her environment, her family and the people she meets as well as from reading, movies and television.

She enjoys writing for competitions because the deadline helps to motivate her.

Vivienne has her BA from Massey University and has participated in creative writing workshops throughout her writing career.

Recently, Vivienne has been working on a book of short stories for adults and is also completing a junior novel.

Email Creative Coast

All images and content are protected by Copyright Law.