Jones was born in Lower Hutt in 1955, and attended Hutt Valley High School and Victoria University of Wellington. Despite fulfilling the requirements of a political science degree, Jones was unable to graduate from university at the time due to library fines owing; he eventually completed his course of study and graduated in 2007.[1][2] He was the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Victoria University in May 2009.[3]
Jones's older brother is property investor and former politician Sir Bob Jones.[4] He also has three older sisters.[5]
Jones' partner is Australian writer Carrie Tiffany.[1] He has two sons and a daughter.[5] One of his sons, Avi Duckor-Jones, was the winner of the first season of reality television show Survivor NZ in 2017.[6] His other son, Sam Duckor-Jones, is an artist and poet.[6][7]
Literary careeredit
After leaving university and spending time travelling overseas, Jones became a sports reporter at The Evening Post, and began writing fiction.[1][5] His first novel, Gilmore's Dairy (1985), was a satirical novel about a young man growing up in a small New Zealand town, and was followed by Splinter (1988), a novel set in Lower Hutt with two primary narratives (one about an early immigrant and the other about a magazine editor). Like his later work, these two early novels blended suburban realism, black comedy and originality.[8]
In 1988, Jones was the recipient of the Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellowship.[9] In 1991 he published a short fiction collection, Swimming for Australia (1991), which was shortlisted for the New Zealand Book Award for Fiction.[8] In 1994 he curated an exhibition which illustrated the concept of Saturday in New Zealand life. The work was a collaboration with photographer Bruce Foster and held at the National Library in Wellington. The work was published as The Last Saturday and included historical photographs, contemporary photographs by Foster and an essay by Jones.[8]
In May 2003, a theatrical adaptation of Jones' novel The Book of Fame was presented at Wellington's Downstage Theatre.[10] It was adapted for the stage by Carl Nixon, New Zealand novelist and playwright.
Here at the End of the World We Learn to Dance (2002)
Napoleon and the Chicken Farmer (2003)
Everything You Need to Know about the World by Simon Eliot, illustrated by Timon Maxey (Four Winds Press, 2004); US title, Everything You Need to Know About the World (2007)
^"Bob and Lloyd Jones". Stuff.co.nz. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
^ abcMatthews, Philip (24 August 2013). "Lloyd Jones talks about family memoir". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^ abMealing, Fleur (6 July 2017). "Survivor winner Avi had to calm his nerves with a couple of wines". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^"Poet Sam Duckor-Jones finds himself inspired by train trips". RNZ. 2021-06-13. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
^ abcRobinson, Roger (2006). "Jones, Lloyd". In Robinson, Roger; Wattie, Nelson (eds.). The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-1917-3519-6. OCLC 865265749. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^"Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship". The Arts Foundation. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
^Dixon, Greg. "AK03: The Book of Fame". New Zealand Herald. NZME. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
^"NZ author wins prestigious prize". One News. 28 May 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
^"The Man Booker Prize 2007". The Booker Prizes. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
^"Entertainment news, gossip & music, movie & book reviews on Stuff.co.nz". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-03-30.
^"A History of Silence: A Memoir (NZ Ed)". Penguin NZ. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
^ abcd"Lloyd Jones". Read NZ. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
^ abcdef"Lloyd Jones". The Arts Foundation. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
^"LIANZA Russell Clark Award". Christchurch City Libraries. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
^"2004 Awards". New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards. Wellington, New Zealand: Booksellers New Zealand. 28 September 2011. OCLC 182896192. Archived from the original on 2012-05-28. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
^"New Zealand Post Book of the Year". Christchurch, New Zealand: Christchurch City Libraries. 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
^"Commonwealth Writers' Prize Regional Winners 1987-2007" (PDF). Commonwealth Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 October 2007.
^"Lloyd Jones Wins Kiriyama Prize in Fiction". Poets & Writers. 4 February 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
^"Mr Pip championed by British equivalent of Oprah's book club". NZ Herald. 29 December 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2020.