Ian Middleton
Encyclopedia
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
novelist, who made a made a particular mark with his books set in post-Second World War Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Born in New Plymouth
New Plymouth
New Plymouth is the major city of the Taranaki Region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after Plymouth, Devon, England, from where the first English settlers migrated....
, he was the younger brother of noted New Zealand short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
O. E. Middleton
O. E. Middleton
O.E. Middleton was a New Zealand writer of short stories, described as belonging to the vernacular critical realist tradition of Frank Sargeson. He was the brother of noted New Zealand novelist Ian Middleton, and like him also blind from middle age...
.
Blind, he said this gave him a "special perspective but 'without limitation'", and has been attributed to the "strong metaphoric colour, sensual - often erotic - quality and lush verbal richness of his writing".
A full list of his publications can be seen at the University of Auckland
University of Auckland
The University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...
's NZ Literature file and more biographical information is at the New Zealand Book Council
New Zealand Book Council
The New Zealand Book Council is a not-for-profit organisation that presents a wide range of programmes that promote books and reading.It was established in 1972 as a response to UNESCO's International Book Year ....
's website.
Main works
- Pet Shop (Waiura: A. Taylor, 1979)
- Faces of Hachiko (AucklandAucklandThe Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
: Inca Print, 1984) - Sunflower: a Novel of Present Day Japan (AucklandAucklandThe Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
: Benton Press, 1986) - Mr PonsonbyMr PonsonbyMr Ponsonby is the fourth novel from noted New Zealand author Ian Middleton, and is described as "his eulogy to a gentrifying Ponsonby". He had an intimate connection with Ponsonby , where the book is set, beginning in 1942 and returning to live there in later life...
(AucklandAucklandThe Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
: Lyndon, 1989) - Reiko (WellingtonWellingtonWellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
: Moana Press, 1990) - Harvest (OkatoOkatoOkato is a small township in rural Taranaki, New Zealand. The population was 531 in the 2006 Census, an increase of 12 from 2001. It is situated about 25 minutes drive around the coast from New Plymouth on State Highway 45. Oakura is 12 km to the north-east, and Warea is 9 km to the...
: Puniho Art Press, 1995) - I See a Voice (AucklandAucklandThe Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
: Flamingo, 1997)
The 'Japanese trilogy' - Faces of Hachiko, Sunflower and Reiko - describes a personal and complex portrayal of post-war Japan. Pet Shop, a novel on his early upbringing in small-town New Zealand, wartime Auckland and his experiences on a Norwegian tanker, was described by New Zealand writer Kevin Ireland as "an absorbing picture of the repressions that passed for a moral code".