List of New Zealand writers
Encyclopedia
Writers who have contributed to New Zealand literature
include:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S
T U V W X Y Z
New Zealand literature
New Zealand literature is essentially literature in English that is either written by New Zealanders, or migrants, dealing with New Zealand themes or places and is primarily a 20th Century creation...
include:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S
T U V W X Y Z
A
- Fleur AdcockFleur AdcockKareen Fleur Adcock , CNZM, OBE is a poet and an editor of English and Northern Irish ancestry, who has lived much of her life in England.-Life and career:...
- Barbara Anderson
B
- Murray BallMurray BallMurray Hone Ball ONZM , a New Zealand-born cartoonist, has become known for his Stanley the Palaeolithic Hero , Bruce the Barbarian, All the King's Comrades and the long-running Footrot Flats comic series...
- David Ballantyne
- Mary Anne BarkerMary Anne BarkerMary Anne Barker, Lady Barker , later Mary Anne Broome, Lady Broome, was an author.-Biography:Born Mary Anne Stewart in Spanish Town, Jamaica, she was the eldest daughter of Walter Steward, Island Secretary of Jamaica...
(Lady Barker) - James K. BaxterJames K. BaxterJames Keir Baxter was a poet, and is a celebrated figure in New Zealand society.-Biography:Baxter was born in Dunedin to Archibald Baxter and Millicent Brown and grew up near Brighton. He was named after James Keir Hardie, a founder of the British Labour Party. His father had been a conscientious...
- Bernard BeckettBernard BeckettBernard Beckett is a New Zealand writer of fiction for young adults. His work includes novels and plays. Beckett has taught Drama, Mathematics and English at a number of high schools in the Wellington Region, and is currently teaching students at Hutt Valley High School in Lower...
- James BelichJames Belich (historian)James Christopher Belich, ONZM is a New Zealand revisionist historian, known for his work on the New Zealand Wars.Of Croatian descent, he was born in Wellington in 1956, the son of Sir James Belich, who later became Mayor of Wellington. He attended Onslow College.He gained an M.A...
- Ursula Bethell
- Ivan BoothamIvan BoothamIvan Bootham is a New Zealand novelist, short story writer, poet and composer.- Life and literary works :Ivan Bootham was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, in 1939, and migrated to New Zealand as a teenager, working in a variety of jobs in provincial centres...
- Jenny BornholdtJenny BornholdtJennifer Mary Bornholdt is an award-winning New Zealand poet and anthologist.-Biography:Born in Lower Hutt, Bornholdt received a bachelor's degree in English Literature and a Diploma in Journalism...
- Thomas BrackenThomas BrackenThomas Bracken was a noted late 19th century poet. He wrote "God Defend New Zealand", one of the two National anthems of New Zealand and was the first person to publish the phrase "God's Own Country" as applied to New Zealand.-Background and early years:Bracken was born at Clones, County...
- Charles BraschCharles BraschCharles Orwell Brasch was a New Zealand poet, literary editor and arts patron. He was the founding editor of the literary journal Landfall....
- Errol BrathwaiteErrol BrathwaiteErrol Brathwaite was a New Zealand author. He was born and grew up in Waipukurau, Hawke's Bay. He experienced the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake first-hand....
C
- Alistair CampbellAlistair Campbell (poet)Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, ONZM was a New Zealand poet, playwright, and novelist. His father was a New Zealand Scot and his mother a Cook Island Maori from Penrhyn Island.-Biography:...
- Meg CampbellMeg CampbellMeg Campbell was a female New Zealand poet. Campbell was born and raised in Palmerston North, New Zealand and attended Marsden Collegiate, Wellington where she studied acting...
- Ken CatranKen CatranKen Catran is a children's novelist and television screenwriter from New Zealand.Catran is the author of many teen novels, including Taken at the Flood, Voyage with Jason, Doomfire on Venus, Space Wolf, Jacko Moran:Sniper, Talking to Blue and its sequel Blue Murder...
- Catherine ChidgeyCatherine ChidgeyCatherine Chidgey was born in New Zealand in 1970 and grew up in the Hutt Valley. She has degrees in creative writing, psychology, and German literature....
- Hugh CookHugh Cook (science fiction author)Hugh Cook was a cult author whose works blend fantasy and science fiction. He is best-known for his epic series The Chronicles of an Age of Darkness.-Biography:...
- Joy CowleyJoy CowleyCassia "Joy" Cowley, DCNZM, OBE is a New Zealand author of novels, short stories, and children's fiction.Her first novel, Nest in a Fallen Tree , was converted into the 1971 film The Night Digger by Roald Dahl...
- Barry CrumpBarry CrumpBarry John Crump MBE was a New Zealand author of semi-autobiographical comic novels based on his image as a rugged outdoors man...
- Allen CurnowAllen CurnowThomas Allen Munro Curnow ONZ CBE was a New Zealand poet and journalist. Curnow was born in Timaru and educated at Christchurch Boys' High School, Canterbury University, and Auckland University...
D
- Dan DavinDan DavinDaniel Marcus Davin was an author who wrote about New Zealand, although for most of his career he lived in Oxford, England, working for Oxford University Press....
- William DireenWilliam DireenWilliam Direen is a New Zealand-born writer and musician whose work includes poetry, fiction, songs and music-theatre pieces. He was 2010 Fellow at the Michael King Writers Centre in Auckland, New Zealand and has been musical designer/manager of a music group The Bilders since...
- Lynley DoddLynley DoddDame Lynley Stuart Dodd, DNZM is a prominent author of children’s books from New Zealand.She is best known for her “Hairy Maclary” series, and its follow-ups, all of which feature animals with rhyming names, and received a DNZM in 2001 for "services to children's literature and book...
- Alfred DomettAlfred DomettAlfred Domett, CMG was an English colonial statesman and poet. He was New Zealand's fourth Premier.-Early life:He was born at Camberwell, Surrey; his father was a ship-owner...
- Joan DruettJoan DruettJoan Druett is a New Zealand historian and novelist, specialising in maritime history.-Life:Joan Druett was born in Nelson, and raised in Palmerston North, moving to New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, when she was 16...
- Marilyn DuckworthMarilyn DuckworthMarilyn Duckworth OBE is a novelist, poet and short story writer. She has published sixteen novels, one novella, a collection of short stories and a collection of poetry. She has also written for television and radio....
- Tessa DuderTessa DuderTessa Duder née Stavely is a New Zealand swimming champion and author of novels for young people, short stories, plays and non-fiction. She is primarily known for her Alex quartet. As an editor, she has also published a number of anthologies.-Early life:Tessa Staveley was born in 1940 in...
- Alan DuffAlan DuffAlan Duff is a New Zealand novelist and newspaper columnist, most well known as the author of Once Were Warriors.- Biography :...
- Eileen Duggan
- Maurice DugganMaurice DugganMaurice Noel Duggan was a New Zealand writer of short fiction.-Life Overview:Born in Auckland and raised on the city’s North Shore, Duggan was mentored by Frank Sargeson and was friendly with many of the important writers of the day, including Greville Texidor, John Reece Cole, Keith Sinclair and...
- Kate DuignanKate DuignanKatherine Duignan is a New Zealand novelist.Duignan was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and completed an MA in Creative Writing at Victoria University of Wellington in 2000. Her first novel Breakwater, based on her MA thesis, was published by Victoria University Press in 2001...
- Pip Desmond
E
- Stevan Eldred-GriggStevan Eldred-GriggStevan Treleaven Eldred-Grigg is the New Zealand author of nine novels, eight history books and various essays and short stories.Born in the Grey Valley, New Zealand, he was one of nine children of Valerie 'Darkie' Forbes, a former factory worker, and her mining official husband Gilbert...
- Barbara Else
- Barbara EwingBarbara EwingBarbara Ewing is a UK-based actress, playwright and novelist. Born in New Zealand, she graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with a BA in English and Maori before coming to Britain in 1965 to train as an actress at RADA in London.She made her film debut in the horror film Torture...
F
- Jaqueline Fahey
- Brian Falkner
- Fiona FarrellFiona FarrellFiona Farrell is a New Zealand poet, fiction writer and playwright. Her latest novel, Limestone, was published in April 2009. The Broken Book, was published by Auckland University Press 2011 .-Bibliography:...
- Roderick Finlayson
- Janet FrameJanet FrameJanet Paterson Frame, ONZ, CBE was a New Zealand author. She wrote eleven novels, four collections of short stories, a book of poetry, an edition of juvenile fiction, and three volumes of autobiography during her lifetime. Since her death, a twelfth novel, a second volume of poetry, and a handful...
H
- Roger HallRoger HallRoger Leighton Hall, CNZM, QSO is a British born New Zealander actor and playwright, known for his comedies that carry a serious vein of social criticism and feelings of pathos.-Early years:...
- M. H. HolcroftM. H. HolcroftMontague Harry Holcroft was a New Zealand essayist, and novelist.-Life:He wrote for the Southland Times, beginning in 1936.He edited the New Zealand Listener, starting in 1949....
- Keri HulmeKeri HulmeKeri Hulme is a New Zealand writer, best known for The Bone People, her only novel.-Early life:Hulme was born in Christchurch, in New Zealand's South Island. The daughter of a carpenter and a credit manager, she was the eldest of six children. Her parents were of English, Scottish, and Māori ...
- Sam Hunt
- Robin HydeRobin HydeRobin Hyde is one of New Zealand's major poets. She was born Iris Guiver Wilkinson in Cape Town, South Africa and taken to Wellington, New Zealand before her first birthday. She had her secondary education at Wellington Girls' College where she wrote poetry and short stories for the school...
J
- Lynn Jenner
- Andrew JohnstonAndrew Johnston (poet)Andrew Johnston is an award-winning New Zealand poet and journalist who works as an editor for the International Herald Tribune in Paris....
- Lloyd JonesLloyd Jones (New Zealand author)Lloyd Jones is a New Zealand author who currently resides in Wellington. His novel Mister Pip won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker.-Early life and education:...
- V. M. JonesV. M. JonesVictoria Mary Jones is a children's author. She was born in Zambia and educated in Zimbabwe. She completed a BA in English, Archaeology and Social Anthropology at the University of Cape Town...
- Sherryl Jordan
K
- Michael KingMichael KingMichael King, OBE was a New Zealand popular historian, author and biographer. He wrote or edited over 30 books on New Zealand topics, including The Penguin History of New Zealand, which was the most popular New Zealand book of 2004.-Life:King was born in Wellington to Eleanor and Commander Lewis...
- Russell KirkpatrickRussell KirkpatrickRussell Kirkpatrick is a geography lecturer and a novelist. He holds a PhD in geography from the University of Canterbury, and currently lectures at the University of Waikato in Hamilton...
- Elizabeth KnoxElizabeth KnoxElizabeth Fiona Knox, ONZM, is an award-winning New Zealand writer. She has authored eight novels, an autobiographical trilogy of novellas, a fantasy duet for young adults, and a collection of essays...
- Shonagh Koea
L
- John A. LeeJohn A. LeeJohn Alfred Alexander Lee DCM was a New Zealand politician and writer. He is one of the more prominent avowed socialists in New Zealand's political history.-Early life:...
- George Leitch
- Elsie LockeElsie LockeElsie Violet Locke was a New Zealand writer, feminist and social activist. She was born Elsie Violet Farrelly in Waiuku.- Life :...
- Robert LordRobert LordRobert Lord was an American screenwriter and film producer. He wrote for 71 films between 1925 and 1940. He won an Academy Award in 1933 in the category Best Writing, Original Story for the film One Way Passage...
- Edith LyttletonEdith Joan LyttletonEdith Joan Lyttelton was an Australasian author, who wrote as G.B. Lancaster. She was born in Tasmania, and bought up on a sheep station in Canterbury, New Zealand. She produced 11 novels, a collection of stories, two serialised novels and over 250 stories.She was New Zealand's most widely read...
- Jack Lasenby
M
- Greg McGeeGreg McGee-Biography:McGee was born in 1950 in the South Island town of Oamaru. In his early 20s McGee was a Junior All Black and an All Black trialist. He graduated from the University of Otago with a law degree in 1972....
- Anna Mackenzie
- Juliet MarillierJuliet MarillierJuliet Marillier is a New Zealand-born writer of fantasy, especially historical fantasy. She currently lives in Western Australia. While Marillier writes mostly for adults, her recent books have included Cybele's Secret, a sequel to her novel for young adults Wildwood Dancing. Cybele's Secret won...
- Cilla McQueenCilla McQueenCilla McQueen is a poet and three-time winner of the New Zealand Book Award for Poetry.-Early years and Education:McQueen's family moved to New Zealand when she was four....
- Margaret MahyMargaret MahyMargaret Mahy ONZ is a well-known New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. While the plots of many of her books have strong supernatural elements, her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growing up.Her books The Haunting and The Changeover: A Supernatural...
- Bill ManhireBill ManhireWilliam "Bill" Manhire, CNZM is an award-winning New Zealand poet, short story writer, and professor, New Zealand's inaugural Poet Laureate.-Biography:...
- Frederick Edward ManingFrederick Edward ManingFrederick Edward Maning was a notable early settler in New Zealand, a writer and judge of the Native Land Court. He published two books under the pseudonym of "a Pakeha Maori."...
- Lyn McConchieLyn McConchieLyn McConchie is a New Zealand writer of science fiction/fantasy, picture books for children, a non-fiction humour series, a number of stand alone books and many short stories, articles, poetry and opinion pieces and reviews. She lives in a small village in Southern Hawke's Bay...
- Linda McNabbLinda McNabbLinda McNabb is a British-born New Zealand children's author who has written several fantasy novels for children and young adults.-Biography:...
- Katherine MansfieldKatherine MansfieldKathleen Mansfield Beauchamp Murry was a prominent modernist writer of short fiction who was born and brought up in colonial New Zealand and wrote under the pen name of Katherine Mansfield. Mansfield left for Great Britain in 1908 where she encountered Modernist writers such as D.H. Lawrence and...
- Ngaio MarshNgaio MarshDame Ngaio Marsh DBE , born Edith Ngaio Marsh, was a New Zealand crime writer and theatre director. There is some uncertainty over her birth date as her father neglected to register her birth until 1900...
- Owen MarshallOwen MarshallOwen Marshall is the pen name of Owen Marshall Jones, a New Zealand short story writer and novelist. The third son of a Methodist minister and older brother of Rhys Jones, he came of age in Blenheim and Timaru, and graduated from the University of Canterbury with an MA in English in 1964...
- Bruce MasonBruce MasonBruce Edward George Mason, CBE was a significant playwright in New Zealand who wrote 34 plays and influenced the cultural landscape of the country through his contribution to theatre. In 1980, he was awarded the prestigious CBE.The Bruce Mason Award, one of the most important playwrighting...
- James McNeishJames McNeishSir James Henry Peter McNeish, KNZM , a New Zealand novelist, playwright and biographer, was born in Auckland in 1931 and travelled the world as a young man - working as a deckhand on a Norwegian freighter in 1958, and recording folk music in 21 countries...
- Ian MiddletonIan MiddletonIan Middleton was a New Zealand novelist, who made a made a particular mark with his books set in post-Second World War Japan. Born in New Plymouth, he was the younger brother of noted New Zealand short story writer O. E...
- O. E. MiddletonO. E. MiddletonO.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...
- Geoff MoonGeoff MoonGeoff Moon, OBE MRCVS ARPS Hon FPSNZ MACVs., was a New Zealand naturalist an ornithologist, conservationist, veterinary surgeon and photographer. He is the author and photographer of many books on New Zealand birds and landscape...
- Count Geoffrey Potocki de MontalkCount Geoffrey Potocki de MontalkCount Geoffrey Wladislas Vaile Potocki de Montalk , poet, private printer, pamphleteer, pagan and pretender to the Polish throne, was born in New Zealand, the eldest son of Auckland architect Robert Wladislas de Montalk, grandson of Paris-born Professor Count Joseph Wladislas Edmond Potocki de...
- Stephanie de Montalk
- Ronald Hugh MorriesonRonald Hugh MorriesonRonald Hugh Morrieson of Hawera, Taranaki was a novelist and short story writer in the New Zealand vernacular. He earned his living as a...
- Michael J T MorrisseyMichael J T MorrisseyMichael James Terence Morrissey is a New Zealand poet, short story writer, novelist, editor, feature article writer, book reviewer and columnist...
- John MulganJohn MulganJohn Alan Edward Mulgan was a New Zealand writer, journalist and editor, and the elder son of journalist and writer Alan Mulgan. His profound influence on New Zealand literature and identity grew in the years after his death...
S
- Frank SargesonFrank SargesonFrank Sargeson was the pen name of Norris Frank Davey. He is considered one of New Zealand's foremost short story writers. Like Katherine Mansfield, Sargeson helped to put New Zealand literature on the world map....
- Duncan SarkiesDuncan SarkiesDuncan Sarkies is a New Zealand screenwriter, playwright, novelist, stand-up comic and short story writer.Sarkies grew up in the South Island city of Dunedin and is the brother of Robert Sarkies a New Zealand film director who is also a scriptwriter...
- William Satchell
- Maurice ShadboltMaurice ShadboltMaurice Francis Richard Shadbolt CBE was a New Zealand writer and playwright. He was born in Auckland, and educated at Te Kuiti High School, Avondale College and Auckland University College...
- Keith SinclairKeith SinclairSir Keith Sinclair, CBE was a poet and noted historian of New Zealand.Born and raised in Auckland, Sinclair was a student at Auckland University College, which was then part of the University of New Zealand. He was awarded a Ph.D...
- Nalini SinghNalini Singh (author)Nalini Singh is a New Zealand writer; for the Indian journalist of the same name see Nalini Singh.Nalini Singh is a New Zealand author of numerous paranormal romance novels.- Early life :...
- John Sligo
- Alex Staines
- C. K. SteadC. K. SteadChristian Karlson Stead, ONZ, CBE is a New Zealand writer whose works include novels, poetry, short stories, and literary criticism....
- Michael P. Steven
- Jacqui Sturm
T
- Chad TaylorChad Taylor (writer)-Life:Chad Taylor was born and raised in Auckland. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Elam and worked as assistant editor on Rip It Up magazine. Taylor was the recipient of the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship for literature in 2001 and was the University of Auckland Literary Fellow in...
- Philip TemplePhilip TemplePhilip Temple is a Dunedin-based New Zealand author of novels, children's stories, and non-fiction...
- Mervyn ThompsonMervyn ThompsonMervyn Garfield Thompson was a prominent New Zealand playwright and theatre director. He was one of the founders of Court Theatre in Christchurch, an artistic director of Downstage Theatre in Wellington and Writer in Residence at the University of Canterbury. His theatrical writing championed the...
- Brian Turner
- Hone TuwhareHone TuwhareHone Tuwhare was a noted New Zealand poet of Māori ancestry. He is closely associated with The Catlins in the Otago region of New Zealand, where he lived for the latter part of his life.-Early years:...
W
- Darryl Ward
- Ian WeddeIan WeddeIan Curtis Wedde ONZM is a New Zealand poet, fiction writer, critic, and art curator.-Biography:Born in Blenheim, New Zealand, Wedde lived in East Pakistan and England as a child before returning to New Zealand. He attended King's College and University of Auckland, graduating with an MA in...
- Peter WellsPeter Wells (New Zealand)Peter Wells is an award-winning writer and filmmaker from New Zealand.Although today he is mainly known for his fiction, Peter Wells has explored his interest in gay and historical themes, in a number of expressive drama and documentary films since the 1980s.The first and last feature film made...
- Albert WendtAlbert WendtAlbert Wendt, CNZM is a Samoan poet and writer who also lives in New Zealand. Among his works is Leaves of the Banyan Tree .-Biography:...
- Cherry WilderCherry WilderCherry Wilder was the pseudonym of science fiction and fantasy writer Cherry Barbara Grimm, née Lockett, who was born in Auckland, New Zealand....
(Cherry Barbara Grimm) - Niel WrightNiel WrightNiel Wright is a New Zealand poet, literary critic, bibliographer, publisher, and cultural and political commentator. He is best known for his epic poem The Alexandrians, published in 120 books between 1961 and 2007 and totalling some 36,000 lines...