Farewell to Maurice Gee

Maurice Gee wrote more than 30 novels for both adults and children, though many of his works blurred the line between the two, and his contribution to Aotearoa New Zealand literature was immense. He tackled topics which few other authors of the time would go near. His multi-faceted lead characters often deal with disturbing and complex issues and display, in doing so, a deep moral purpose. His books never shied away from showing the ugliness of evil and the costs of dealing with this darkness. His body of work often engaged with creating mythic Aotearoa New Zealand landscapes, both of reality and beyond, almost a dream landscape of the country. Many will remember or be acquainted with the iconic 1981 T.V. production of Under the Mountain, which shows this aspect of his work off to good effect.

He won almost every major Aotearoa NZ literary award as well as several international ones, including the Mansfield Menton Fellowship, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Robert Burns Fellowship. In 2003, he was recognised as one of New Zealand’s greatest living artists across all disciplines by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.

You can borrow all his works from the library; browse them here.