Aged 80, Joyce proves she has the 'write stuff'
Published on 07 July, 2009
Joyce Grant had plenty of life experience to draw on when proving her creative writing prowess to gain a Master of Letters - aged 80.
Whether digging for antiquities in Jordan, running a girls' school in Papua New Guinea or directing plays on the Gold Coast, she has tended to choose unusual pathways.
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When the Gold Coast resident attended the CQUniversity Noosa Graduation on June 30, it was the latest in a string of remarkable milestones.
Joyce attended Balmain Teachers' College and Sydney University, where she was awarded the Margaret Cramp Memorial Prize for English. This led to a teaching job in Canberra.
It was 1949 when overseas adventure called and the 20-year-old Joyce travelled to Papua New Guinea as an Education Officer with the Department of External Territories.
"I worked for there 27 years on curriculum projects involving English as a second language in both primary and secondary education in towns and villages in many parts of the Territory," she said.
"These were exciting years as the Highlands were opening and PNG was developing education. In the sixties, I was posted to Busu Girls' High School, the first selective girls' high school in PNG.
Joyce in her Papua New Guinea days
"Many of these young women, from all over the Territory, are now professional leaders in their country."
In the 1960s, Joyce initiated the first PNG Drama Festival and continued to drive it for several years, directing the first award-winning indigenous play, adjudicated by Joan Whalley from Nida.
In the 1970s, she became deputy and then principal of the multi-racial LaeHigh School.
"Since coming to Australia, I have taught in high schools and as a senior lecturer at the Gold Coast Institute of TAFE for 5 years.
"I am a life member of the Gold Coast Little Theatre, Southport, where I have directed productions and am on the Management Committee.
"Also I recently served as a board member on the Australian Decorative & Fine Arts Society (ADFAS) for 3 years.
Joyce has travelled widely in the Middle East (Libya, Iran, Syria ,Yemen etc) and worked on a dig run by Sydney University at Pella in Jordan.
She enjoys writing and has won several awards.