'Jones's emotional investment in these early writers makes the book unexpectedly, and unusually, rewarding'
While the book required considerable research, it aims to take these talented, entertaining and courageous characters out of the exclusive possession of the scholars by recreating them as ordinary people excited by their experiences and surprised to find themselves making history.
The author's intention was 'to capture something of the reality of the lives lived and to create a sense of this country as one inhabited by writers.’ Writers in Residence shows writing as a way in which a new place is explored and understood. Published by Auckland University Press in 2004.
To Preview and/or buy Writers in Residence
- For a Google preview plus info about where the book is available to buy or borrow, click here. A google search for 'Jenny Robin Jones Writers in Residence' offers further options.
- Writers in Residence is currently out of print but may soon be offered on Print on Demand. Contact Jenny Robin Jones for details. Some copies can be found for sale online, but they are pricey.
What the reviews said about Writers in Residence
Extract from 'Should we care about “Old New Zealand”?' A review by Nicholas Birns in Antipodes, December 2004.
“Jenny Jones, in a readable and refreshingly non-judgemental study, gives vivid life to some of the intellectual shapers of colonial New Zealand… Jones’ pioneers are the writers who come at the beginning of literary activity in this country”
Extract from 'Carefully worded history'. A review by Mark Williams in Sunday Star Times, 9 May, 2004
Extract from a review by Margie Thomson in the New Zealand Herald 8-9 May 2004.
Extract from review by Michael Caines in Times Literary Supplement, 29 April 2005

“..a lively and thoroughly readable account of the emergence of New Zealand literature set against a backdrop of missionary infighting, epic bush and coastal journeys, wide-ranging exchanges with Maori, the rigours of settlement and lengthy lines of contact with northern hemisphere culture. By tracing the lives of her subjects in conjunction with their writings, Jenny Robin Jones has provided an important link in the chain of knowledge about New Zealand writers and writing.
...an extremely valuable addition to materials sought by teachers and students of New Zealand literature and social history...”
Extract from review by Trevor Dobbin, senior lecturer at Auckland College of Education, in Education TODAY, Issue 3, 2004
Extract from review by Jane Wild in NZ Libraries, Vol 49, No 11, 2004
"These 20 'writers' were by no means a group or representatives of a movement; most scribbled in isolation with limited knowledge of the others, their lives or work…. Jones has undertaken a huge and very difficult task.
All credit must go to her for unearthing a wealth of fascinating material and weaving together fragments of history, chunks of disparate prose, poetry, journalism, letters, reminiscences, to create a lively – coherent – prose style."
Extract from Ploughing a lone furrow, review by Julia Millen in New Zealand Books, August 2004
Extract from review by Danelle Wilson in Bay of Plenty Times, 8 May 2004
Which writers are covered in Writers in Residence?
New Zealand's very earliest: John Nicholas, Samuel Marsden, Thomas Kendall, Joel Polack, William Colenso, Edward Jerningham Wakefield, F E Maning, John Logan Campbell, Alfred Domett, Samuel Butler, Lady Barker, John Barr, Thomas Bracken, Alexander Bathgate and Vincent Pyke, William Jackson Barry, Edward Tregear, William Pember Reeves, Jessie Mackay and Blanche Baughan.
Online essays on Lady Barker, Alfred Domett, Jessie Mackay plus William Satchell
Peer-reviewed profiles of early New Zealand writers published online in the Literary Encyclopedia and Kotare:
- Lady Barker, 1000 words Lady Barker
- Alfred Domett, 1000 words Alfred Domett
- Jessie Mackay, 1000 words Jessie Mackay
- William Satchell, 6000 words ‘Early Male Prose Writers’ In Kotare 2008, Special Issue – Essays in New Zealand Literary Biography Series Two