Introduction
Daphne Clair de Jong (born 1939 in New Zealand) is a popular New Zealand writer of over 75 romance novels since 1977 as Daphne Clair and Daphne de Jong, and under the pseudonyms Laurey Bright, Clair Lorel, and Clarissa Garland, and she also publishes poetry and articles.
Daphne Clair de Jong was a founding member and first president of Feminists for Life New Zealand, and wrote articles articulating its position in the seventies. Feminists for Life had no policies on homosexuality/lesbianism or divorce, as stated in the constitution. She subsequently resigned from the organisation, which had increasingly become associated with social conservatism and conservative Christianity and later became Women for Life, dropping its feminist focus.
Biography
Daphne Clair de Jong (née Williams) was born on 1939 in New Zealand. She decided to be a writer when she was 8 years old. She published her first short story when she was 16. She writes romantic novels, poetry and articles. She conducts a romance writing workshop for aspiring writers with Robyn Donald and offers her home as a writers' retreat. She has won awards for both her romantic novels and other works.
Clair is married to a Netherlands-born man, they have five children and live in the winterless north of New Zealand.
Awards
- Dying Light: Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award and others