James McNeish

Who is James McNeish?

Sir James Henry Peter McNeish KNZM attended Auckland Grammar School and graduated from Auckland University with a degree in languages.

He is a New Zealand novelist, playwright and biographer who travelled the world as a young man - working as a deckhand on a Norwegian freighter in 1958, and recording folk music in 21 countries. He worked in the Theatre Workshop in London with Joan Littlewood, and was influenced by her spirit of socially committed drama. He worked as a free-lance programme- and documentary-maker for the BBC Radio's Features Department in the 1960s. He also wrote for The Guardian and The Observer. He spent three years in Sicily with Danilo Dolci, the non-violent anti-Mafia reformer, and wrote Fire under the Ashes a biographical account of Dolci's life which is remarkable for its objectivity and clarity. He has written some 25 books.

James McNeish's writing has been the subject of critical acclaim both at home and abroad. Besides New Zealand, his books are set in Sicily, London, Israel and New Caledonia. He has been described as prolific by the Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature. His book "Lovelock" was nominated for the 1986 Booker Prize.