New Zealand Writers
HARRIS, Jill
HARRIS, Jill (1939- ) is a teacher and storyteller whose first novel, Sil, was published in 2005 by Longacre Press.
Born and raised in Auckland, Harris lived in Indonesia for three years in the 1960s and now lives in Eastbourne, in Wellington. A trained teacher and librarian, Harris’ first novel focuses on Sil, a tui (a native New Zealand bird), who has an extraordinary singing voice.
Aimed at 10-14 year-olds, the novel tells the story of what happens to Sil and his friends when a group of magpies turn up and plot to devastate the valley that is their home.
Sue Edmonds reviewed Sil in 2005, commenting that '…Jill Harris paints a clear and well-researched picture of one of our best known birds, and couples it with her own love of things musical, whether they be bird or man-made.' (Waikato Times)
Harris trained as a teacher in the 1950s and as a librarian in the 1970s. She completed an MA from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, working as a teacher until 1984 and then as a librarian until 2001.
Jill Harris has also published poems in a variety of magazines.
Sil won an Honour Award in the Junior Fiction Category in the 2006 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
Writers in Schools Information
Jill Harris is available to work wit students over 8 years old and is prepared to discuss writing a novel, writing poetry and her own books. She is most comfortable with 30 students or fewere, and is available to run workshops by prior arrangement. She is willing to travel for school visits.
Where do you live?
In Wellington between the bush and the sea.
What books do you read?
Whatever takes my fancy: recommendations from friends, book reviews. I enjoy well-written detective novels. The quality of writing is important.
Who is your favourite writer?
Couldn’t say.
How do you think up your ideas?
They are usually triggered by something I see or hear – I immediately see the potential. I spend some time thinking about the story in advance and jotting down ideas.
What is the best thing about being a writer?
The sheer delight of telling a story and the autonomy to do what I like. I can create any kind of world I like.
Primary School Students
What sort of pets do you have?
I have had several dogs over the years.
What is your favourite colour?
Apricot-orange
What is your favourite food?
Pears
What is your favourite movie?
Couldn’t say
What is your favourite game?
Ex Libris
What is the most fun thing about being an author?
The freedom to do what you like with your story.
Where do you go for your holidays?
All over the place – but usually where it’s beautiful.
What was the naughtiest thing you ever did at school?
Sneaked out of school early every day and collected soft-drink bottles from people to sell.
Secondary School Students
How did you get started?
Imagined the story in my head, researched the background and started writing.
Who inspired you when you were getting started?
No-one
What advice would you give an aspiring young writer?
Read other people’s writing and get started on your own.
Is it difficult to make a living writing in New Zealand?
I should think so
What were you like as a teenager?
Independent, rather outspoken, but also too serious.
Is there anything else you could tell students about yourself?
I belonged to a gang at school whose motto was ‘Do a bad deed every day’ and I was a tomboy, who used to dress up in my brothers’ clothes.
When I was first married, I lived in the middle of Java, in Indonesia, for three years.
When I was a child growing up on Takapuna Beach, I made huts using towels hooked on to the barbed wire that stretched along the beaches to keep the Japanese from landing during the Second World War.
This author is available for school visits as part of the Book Council’s Writers in Schools programme.
