Virginia Innes-Jones

Virginia is a born and bred New Zealander of Scottish and Māori (Ngāi Tahu) descent and has always loved writing since she could pick up a pen. From the age of five, she kept a journal and today almost half a century later is still practising this ritual religiously. She uses her inquisitive mind, ever packed with constant curiosity and imagination, complimented with ideas, to create and write.

She is a coach, mentor, inspirational speaker and like her forebear Robert Louis Stevenson, she is a natural Tusitala ‘Teller of Tales’, with a fabulous fascination for the unseen and unexplained, the other worlds – the land of fairytale.

Virginia and her family have lived in the islands of the South Pacific – Western Samoa and the Cook Islands (Rarotonga) off and on for the last 25 years resulting in her strong connection with Pasifika and Māori. Through her Scottish and Samoan cultural links, she has followed closely in retracing the footsteps of her ancestor Robert Louis Stevenson, the Scottish ‘Tusitala’ by spending a lot of time in his birth place of Scotland and in his resting place of Western Samoa.

Long listed  for the Michael Gifkins Prize for an unpublished novel in 2018.

Member of New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc)

Member of New Zealand Poets Society (NZPS)

Diploma in Freelance Journalism – NZIBS (NZ Institute of Business)

Associate (ATCL) Diploma in Teaching Speech and Drama – Trinity College, London

Licentiate (LTCL) Diploma in Teaching Speech and Drama – Trinity College, London

Certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL, TESOL) – Trinity College, London

Degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management – CIT (Central Institute of Technology), Now Weltech (Wellington Polytechnic) – Three year course

Media

Kāpiti News - 28th August 2020 - Waikanae Writing Duo's New Novel Ready to Read