Images of landscape in New Zealand children's literature of the 1990s

Abstract

Past decades in New Zealand have witnessed steady growth in the field of children's literature. The 1990s sees new literary voices, as well as established children's authors, acknowledged by national awards and international recognition and readership. Contemporary children's authors exhibit a variety of styles and themes, while at the same time sharing an attachmentto landscape motifs associated with concepts of national identity. Images of rural and wilderness in New Zealand have long found expression in a national literature, following a tradition imported with early European immigrants. As New Zealand faces increasing urbanisation, and daily existence grows further away from an undomesticated or rural reality, what relevance do images of landscape have for contemporary children's authors.