Deb Jowitt
Writer Researcher HistorianMy writing reflects my life — people-focused, water-oriented, earthbound.
Deb Jowitt
I am tangata Tiriti, born in Whangārei. I grew up in Tamaki Mākarau, lived in Bali and Java in my early twenties, and raised three children with my partner in locations close to the Hauraki Gulf. A nurse and midwife, I completed a Masters in Midwifery and PhD in History during the 2000s. I now live in Parua Bay, Whangārei Heads, and write short form fiction and creative non-fiction.
My interest in people and the environment shapes my writing. Intergenerational relationships are central. Historical context frames the stories I tell.
Listen
Irish writer and poet Nuala Ní Chonchúir captures the brevity, emotional reach and stiletto-sharp impact of good flash:
Short on words but long on depth, flash fiction stings like good poetry. Punchy, succinct and surprising, the best flash stories shift the reader’s heart, but they also keep it beating hard.
Flash might take months to perfect or come fully-formed; either way, it’s addictive! And so good to hear read aloud.
Komodo Dawn
Flux
Neopolitan
The Photograph
Moonlight
Rengenesis
The Leap
The Tournament
Swallows
Flash
Writing flash fiction is the bridge I’ve walked to enter the world of story-telling. Writing stories of a few hundred words sounds simple but makes its own demands on the writer and the reader, who can be left to contribute almost everything to the barely-defined characters and worlds they encounter. For the writer, striking the right note in flash is an art, a form of alchemy. Beginnings and endings, and in-between, every word counts.
Code of Honour. March 2025: WINDOWS | NGĀ MATAPIHI | Flash Frontier
The central room in the museum smelt of mothballs. It had no windows, and the lights came on gradually, like an artificial dawn. The elderly guide led me to the main exhibit, a slim mannequin wearing a cream suit with an exquisite, embroidered jacket.
Peripheral Vision. December 2024: CIRCLE | POROWHITA | Flash Frontier
A hawk soars on the updrafts, eyes fixed on a rocky outcrop below. The body of a boy lies there askew, face turned towards the sky. Climbers reach him as the rescue team let down ropes. At a signal, they wind the winch, and the climbers watch the lifeless form dangle on its last journey to the top of the ravine.
The Long Way Home. July 2024: ROCK | TOKA | Flash Frontier
Tonight, the coast road is awash, the narrow margin between land and sea lost to high tide and heavy rain. I drive slowly, picking my way through trails of debris, knowing I still have the creek to cross before I get home. The naked world is roaring, water brawling like a wild beast. I can hear the grind of boulders rolling with the pull of the flood.
The Photograph. March 2024: QUIET | MĀRIRE | Flash Frontier
My grandmother carried a tattered black-and-white photograph in the depths of her purse. It was more like the talisman of a lost cause than a celebratory shot. She and Grandad were standing together on unfamiliar steps, smiling at the camera. He was in uniform, tall, good-looking, holding his cigarette like a matinee idol.
Captivating Narratives
Historical Insights
Fictional Journeys
Truthful Reflections
Published Work
Flash Fiction
The Leap, Flash Frontier, October 2025. FISH | NGĀ IKA
Jurassic World, Flash Frontier, July 2025. STARS | NGĀ WHETŪ
Code of Honour. Flash Frontier, March 2025: WINDOWS | NGĀ MATAPIHI
Peripheral Vision. Flash Frontier, December 2024: CIRCLE | POROWHITA
The Long Way Home. Flash Frontier, July 2024: ROCK | TOKA
The Photograph. Flash Frontier, March 2024: QUIET | MĀRIRE
Swallows, Flash Frontier, December 2023: MANU | BIRD
Regenesis, Flash Frontier, October 2023: MARA | GARDEN
Burr, October 2023: Flash Frontier, RĀKAU | TREE
The One That Got Away, Flash Frontier, July 2023: MOANA | OCEAN
‘The Tournament’, shortlisted for Sparkling Prose, At The Bay, 2023.
The Sea Has Lost its Memory, Flash Frontier, October 2022: INSECTS
Changing Landscapes: Flash and micro fiction from Northland, eds, S Clark, DM Jowitt, JOP, Whangarei 2023.
Flux, Flash Frontier, July 2022: AWA
‘Komodo Dawn’, ‘From the Island’, ‘The Facts of Life’, in You Might Want to Read This, eds. S Barker, DM Jowitt, K Jackson, JOP, Whangarei, 2021.
Chicken Lickin, Flash Frontier, February 2019: COMEDY
Creative Non-Fiction
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‘The Flying Men of Java’, longlisted for the Edinburgh True Flash Award, 2025. ‘Silver Bay’, Forty South Short Story Anthology 2025: The Eight Best Entries from the Tasmanian Writers’ Prize 2025, ed., R Allinson, Forty South Publishing, Hobart, 2025. ‘The Strop’, longlisted National Flash Fiction Day competition 2025. ‘Pot-luck Pavlovas’, Pav Deconstructed: Pavlova through the eyes of everyday kiwis, eds, K Derrick, J Jenkins, C Gordon. Pavlova Press, Kerikeri, 2023. ‘Taken’, Longlisted Micro Madness, 2023. ‘All Hung Out: Washing lines of my life’, longlisted National Flash Fiction Day competition 2023. ‘Swimming Lessons from a Whale-man’, December 2021: MICRO | Flash Frontier Jowitt DM, Alpert SG. ‘The Bronze Standard’, Art of the Ancestors. 28 December 2020, www.artoftheancestors.com These Hills are Tapu, Shoal Bay Press, Whitianga, 1991. |
Academic/Scientific
Grae N, Singh A, Jowitt D, et al. Prevalence of healthcare-associated infections in public hospitals in New Zealand, 2021. JHI, 131 (2023) 164e172.
Jowitt DM. The ‘H-Bug’ epidemic: lessons from antibiotic resistant staphylococcal outbreaks in New Zealand hospitals from 1955–1963. NZMJ 20 Sept 2019, Vol 132 No 1502.
Morris AJ, Roberts SA, Grae N, Jowitt DM. Getting surgical antibiotic prophylaxis right, lessons from the National Orthopaedic Surgical Site Infection Improvement Programme: a call for action! NZMJ Feb 22 2019, Vol 132 No 1490:55-58.
Freeman JT, Dawson L, Jowitt DM, White M, Callard H, Sieczkowski C, Kuriyan R, Roberts SA. The impact of the Hand Hygiene New Zealand programme on hand hygiene practices in New Zealand’s public hospitals. NZMJ 14 Oct 2016, Vol 129 No 1443.
Roberts SA, Jowitt DM. New Zealand Health Quality & Safety Commission infection prevention and control programmes: evidence for sustained improvement in infection prevention interventions. Antimicrobial Resistance Infection Control (2015) 4(Suppl 1): P58. https://doi.org/10.1186/2047-2994-4-S1-P58.
Jowitt DM. ‘Government policy relating to hepatitis B in New Zealand 1970-2005’. PhD Thesis (History), University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau, 2010.
Ritchie S, Jowitt DM, Roberts SA. The Auckland City Hospital Device Point Prevalence Survey 2005: utilisation and infectious complications of intravascular and urinary devices. NZ Med J, 24 Aug 2007; Vol 120 No 1260:U2683.
Jowitt DM. The ‘H-Bug’ epidemic: the impact of antibiotic-resistant staphylococcal infection on New Zealand society and health 1955-1963. MHSc (Midwifery) thesis, Auckland University of Technology, 2005.
Connect with Deb
I’m always keen to connect with readers and other writers.
Whether you have a question, feedback, or want to say hello, get in touch!