Maurice Shadbolt
Maurice Shadbolt (1932-2004) was a prominent New Zealand writer and journalist, renowned for his contributions to both fiction and nonfiction. Born in Auckland, he began his career as a reporter before transitioning to documentary film and full-time writing. Shadbolt gained recognition with his first book, "The New Zealanders: A Sequence of Stories," published in 1957, which established him as a significant voice in New Zealand literature. He authored numerous works, including eleven novels, collections of stories, and volumes of autobiography, often incorporating themes of native history, culture, and mythology that resonate with New Zealand's identity.
His notable works include the widely-read novel "Among the Cinders," and the Anglo-Maori War trilogy, which explores historical narratives from the nineteenth century. Shadbolt's nonfiction contributions, like "New Zealand: Gift of the Sea," helped shape the international perception of New Zealand. He received numerous literary accolades throughout his career, including the Katherine Mansfield short story award and the A. W. Reed Lifetime Achievement Award. Shadbolt's influence extended beyond literature; his play "Once on Chunuk Bair" played a key role in reviving interest in Anzac Day. He left a lasting legacy on New Zealand's literary landscape before his passing in 2004, marking him as an indelible figure in the country’s cultural narrative.
Maurice Shadbolt
New Zealand novelist, short-fiction writer, nonfiction writer, and playwright.
- Born: June 4, 1932
- Birthplace: Auckland, New Zealand
- Died: October 10, 2004
- Place of death: Taumarunui, near Wellington, New Zealand
Biography
Maurice Francis Richard Shadbolt was born June 4, 1932, in Auckland, New Zealand, the son of Francis Clement William Shadbolt and Violet Kearon Shadbolt. He was educated at Avondale College and at the University of Auckland. Shadbolt married the first of his four wives, freelance journalist Gillian Eve Muriel Heming, in 1953, siring three sons and a daughter. He later produced a fifth child while married to Barbara Magner, and also wed Bridget Armstrong in 1978 and novelist Elspeth Sandys in 1993.
Shadbolt in the early 1950s was a reporter for provincial newspapers before working for several years as a documentary film scriptwriter and director for the New Zealand National Film Unit. He became a full-time freelance journalist and writer in the mid-1950s. In 1956, Shadbolt traveled to London via China and the Soviet Union, meanwhile sending home a steady stream of news reports and submitting short stories and features that appeared in such periodicals as Landfall, New Zealand Listener, Overland, Islands, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Reader’s Digest, and the Journal of New Zealand Literature, among others.
In 1957, Shadbolt published his first book, the critically acclaimed The New Zealanders: A Sequence of Stories. It marked the start of the author’s establishment as a quintessential Kiwi writer who used native history, tradition, landscape, myth and folklore in his writing to aid in the understanding and promotion of New Zealand. In following years, Shadbolt wrote eleven novels, a volume of novellas, three more collections of stories, two volumes of autobiography, and several works of nonfiction, which fared well both at home and abroad.
Shadbolt’s first novel, Among the Cinders, sold more than two hundred thousand copies in New Zealand—an astonishing total in a nation of then 2.5 million people. Shadbolt’s early novels, including This Summer’s Dolphin, An Ear of the Dragon, and Strangers and Journeys, concentrated on New Zealand’s twentieth-century history. Later fictional works, particularly his Anglo-Maori War trilogy—consisting of Season of the Jew, Monday’s Warriors, and The House of Strife: A Novel—were set during the nineteenth century.
Shadbolt’s nonfiction was as popular as his fiction. Such books as the collaborative travelogue (with photographer Brian Blake) New Zealand: Gift of the Sea, The Shell Guide to New Zealand, Love and Legend: Some Twentieth Century New Zealanders, and Reader’s Digest Guide to New Zealand are credited with playing a leading role in projecting a favorable image of New Zealand to the world. His play, Once on Chunuk Bair, and his nonfiction Voices of Gallipoli, are largely responsible for rekindling interest in Anzac Day, now New Zealand’s unofficial national day. His late-in-life memoirs, One of Ben’s: A New Zealand Medley and From the Edge of the Sky: A Memoir only solidified his reputation as a Kiwi through and through.
For his writing, Shadbolt won virtually every New Zealand literary honor, including the Katherine Mansfield short story award three times and the national book award four times. He held several writing fellowships, was named New Zealand State Literary Scholar (1960 and 1970), received the Commemoration Medal for services to New Zealand, and was appointed a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1989. In 2002, he received the A. W. Reed Lifetime Achievement Award.
Around the time of the publication of his last novel, Dove on the Waters, it was revealed that Shadbolt was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. He died in Taumarunui, near Wellington, on October 10, 2004, and was mourned by New Zealand, the nation with which he will be forever indelibly identified.
Author Works
Drama:
Once on Chunuk Bair, pb. 1982
The Great Kiwi Concert Show, pb. 1982 (with Tom Parkinson)
Edited Texts:
The Shell Guide to New Zealand, 1968
Voices of Gallipoli, 1988
Long Fiction:
Among the Cinders, 1965, revised 1984
This Summer's Dolphin, 1969
An Ear of the Dragon, 1971
Strangers and Journeys, 1972
A Touch of Clay, 1974
Danger Zone, 1975
The Lovelock Version, 1980
Season of the Jew, 1987
Monday's Warriors, 1992
The House of Strife: A Novel, 1995
Nonfiction:
New Zealand: Gift of the Sea, 1963 (with Brian Brake)
Isles of the South Pacific, 1968 (with Olaf Ruhen)
Love and Legend: Some Twentieth Century New Zealanders, 1976
Reader's Digest Guide to New Zealand, 1988
One of Ben's: A New Zealand Medley, 1993
From the Edge of the Sky: A Memoir, 1999
Short Fiction:
The New Zealanders: A Sequence of Stories, 1959, revised 1993
Summer Fires and Winter Country, 1966
The Presence of Music: Three Novellas, 1967
Figures in Light, 1979
Dove on the Waters, 1996
Selected Stories, 1998
Bibliography
McKellar, Rolland. "Shadbolt: A Literary Hero." Taranaki Daily News, 5 June 2010, www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/lifestyle/3780749/Shadbolt-A-literary-hero. Accessed 28 June 2017. Exploring Shadbolt's connection to Taranaki, the writer provides an overview of his life and work.
"Shadbolt, Maurice." New Zealand Book Council, www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writer/shadbolt-maurice/. Accessed 28 June 2017. Provides the Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature's biography of Shadbolt as well as additional sources for research.
Stafford, Jane. "Tickling History." Review of The New Zealand Wars Trilogy: The House of Strife, Monday's Warriors, Season of the Jew, by Maurice Shadbolt. New Zealand Books, Oct. 2005, pp. 12–13. Upon publication of a packaged set of the trilogy, Stafford assesses each work's contribution to New Zealand's origin myth.
Temple, Philip. "Maurice Shadbolt." The Guardian, 26 Oct. 2004, www.theguardian.com/news/2004/oct/26/guardianobituaries.books. Accessed 28 June 2017. Obituary covering Shadbolt's life and writing career.
Wilson, Janet. "'Colonize. Pioneer. Bash and Slash': Once on Chunuk Bair and the Anzac Myth." Journal of New Zealand Literature, vol. 34, no. 1, 2016, pp. 27–53. Wilson explores the impact and meaning of Shadbolt's play about the Gallipoli campaign in contemporary New Zealand.