Pip Griffin
Paperback 2026
Landfall in New Zealand: Mary Jane Cooper Malcolm and Harriet Webb: two narratives in verse
Mary Jane (Pip’s great-aunt), eldest daughter of Scottish Nelson settlers who was born onboard ship in the Bay of Biscay and Harriet, an English domestic servant who sailed alone to Auckland aged 16, face the many challenges of life in Aotearoa, New Zealand in the 1860s. Through dedication and hard work, they both overcome exhausting domestic situations, settler privation and tensions between Māori and Pākehā, to find fulfilling work, friendships and love. Companion pieces to Pip’s verse novel Margaret Caro, these stories are valuable additions to the accounts of courageous 19th century women who have been hidden in history.
Landfall in New Zealand is Pip’s ninth poetry publication. Other work includes Margaret Caro, the extraordinary life of a pioneering dentist, New Zealand 1848-1938 (Pohutukawa Press 2020) Highly Commended, Society of Women Writers NSW Book Awards (poetry) 2020; The Climb Back: poems for Ted (Ginninderra Press 2021), Virginia & Katherine: The Secret Diaries (Pohutukawa Press 2022), Winner, Society of Women Writers NSW Book Awards (poetry) 2022; and Opus: a life with music (Ginninderra Press 2023).