FROM THE oxford companion TO new zealand literature:
JORDAN, Sherryl (1949 – ), children’s fantasy writer, won the national competition in 1980 for illustrations to Joy Cowley’s The Silent One, but soon abandoned illustrating for writing. In five years, she produced twenty-seven picture books (three published) and four novels (none published). Finally, with her fifth novel, she gained the 1988 Choysa Bursary Award, and the futuristic Rocco (1990) won the 1991 AIM Book of the Year. Through time-slips to the future, Rocco learns basic survival skills in a mountain environment, reverence for non-violent, spiritual living, and the urgency of anti-nuclear strivings.
Afflicted with Occupational Overuse Syndrome in 1989, Jordan recovered enough to continue writing novels for teenagers and junior readers. All up to 1995 have been shortlisted for awards. The Juniper Game (1991) provides her only hint at Southern Hemisphere origins, but like The Wednesday Wizard (1991) and Denzil’s Dilemma (1992) features time-slips to medieval England, where her picture book, The Other Side of Midnight (1994), is also set. Winter of Fire (1993) and Tanith (1994) feature teenage girl protagonists in love and seeking power against oppression in exotic worlds of the distant future or past. Jordan’s 1995 novel, Sign of the Lion, again features a girl’s struggle for power. Though at times she stretches credibility, Jordan writes with passion and dramatic imagery. She was born in Hawera. In 1993 she was granted a Fellowship to the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program.
