Phototgraphy: Ebony Lamb.
Choosing the person to dedicate her first book of fiction to was easy for journalist Michelle Duff. She selected the woman who inspired her to write, her grandmother Audrey Gordon. It’s thanks to Audrey – an acclaimed former Weekly journalist – that Michelle became an award-winning reporter, focusing on hard-hitting issues, like child abuse and sexual violence, before turning her hand to fiction and her book of short stories Surplus Women.
“Grandma is my inspiration – she’s amazing,” says Wellington-based Michelle of Audrey, who’s now 97 and living in a rest home in Palmerston North.
“She won the Qantas Media Reporter of the Year award back in 1984, which was a huge deal, and she wrote stories on subjects like abortion rights and the difficulties of being a working mother. “When I became a journalist, I found myself doing stories on the same kind of themes, stories that highlight the lives of women and children. Grandma had done that with considerable success and I think that’s always been a guiding light for me.”
A trailblazing journalist in the family
Michelle, 41, was only two when her grandmother left the Weekly in 1985 after a distinguished career. Audrey won her prestigious reporting award with pieces on the fairness of property division after divorce, the danger of rugby injuries and New Zealand’s first IVF baby.
Unbeknownst to her family, she was also the magazine’s much-respected and beloved agony aunt, helping readers with their problems under the pseudonym Karen Kay. Karen’s real identity was a closely guarded secret for decades until former editor Jenny Lynch spilled the beans when she published her memoir Under the Covers: Secret of a Magazine Editor in 2020.
A family secret finally uncovered
Michelle had no idea Audrey, a mother of eight, was dispensing words of wisdom as Karen until she read a story about it.
“Grandma likes to keep her cards very close to her chest!” she admits.
“If Jenny hadn’t revealed that, we probably would never have known.”
Wisdom passed down through generations
She can see why Audrey earned so much respect for her advice.
“Grandma sees things in a very fair-minded way. She’s very honest and when you talk to her, you know she’s really listening. She’s been there for me my whole life, offering really sage advice about my journalism career, as well as life in general. “I knew I could ring her if I was struggling with a story and talk through some of the issues I was having, in the sense of where the story might go, but also with things like some of the struggles you can have working in a newsroom.”
Following in her grandmother’s footsteps
Michelle started her journalism career at the Manawatū Evening Standard before going to work for The Dominion Post and Sunday Star Times. The mum of two, who wrote a biography of Dame Jacinda Ardern in 2019, was a national correspondent for Stuff and now freelances.
In 2023, she decided to take a break from journalism to do a Master’s degree in creative writing and fiction.
Burnout and a turning point
“I’d spent a lot of time writing stories about the #MeToo movement, and sexual and domestic violence, and I ended up with burnout,” she reveals.
“There comes a point when you can’t help taking stuff on board. I wrote about the murder of a five-year-old when I had a child around the same age. “I thought, ‘I need to take a break and see if there are other ways I can tell stories.’ I’d always wanted to write fiction, so I decided, ‘I’ll try this course and see what comes out of it.’”
Not only did Michelle get her Master’s, but many of the stories she wrote as part of it have ended up becoming part of Surplus Women.
The 14 tales delve into the lives of a range of Kiwis, from a duplicitous real estate agent to a stressed detective. Writing fiction was challenging because it’s so different to journalism, but Michelle says she loves the creative process.
Now working on a novel in between freelancing – she travelled to Vanuatu last year to cover the earthquake – she says her favourite story in Surplus Women is about a grandmother who’s a spy.
And no, Audrey wasn’t the inspiration.
“Grandma could be a very good spy because she’s so good at keeping secrets,” she reflects.
“However, it’s not based on her. But I do feel like a little bit of her spirit’s in that story.”
Surplus Women by Michelle Duff is available at Te Herenga Waka University.
