Maurice Gee

Overview

Maurice Gee's fiction for younger readers blends exciting stories with serious issues. Told through a range of genres, from fantasy to realism, adventure to science fiction, mysteries, psychological thrillers and gangster stories, they offer a distinctive body of work that shows New Zealand to children and young adults. This book is the first of two that pays tribute to Maurice Gee's distinctive contribution to New Zealand literature. It argues that the depth and excitement of Gee's fiction for young readers makes for an impressive introduction to New Zealand culture, history and storytelling. Overview chapters explore the motivations, themes, contexts and reception of Gee's work, from the fantasy novels Under the Mountain, The World Around the Corner and the O and Salt trilogies, to the five realist and historical novels, including The Fat Man, The Champion and The Fire-Raiser. This volume will appeal to students, teachers, readers and writers of New Zealand literature, children's literature and fantasy literature. A second book, by Lawrence Jones, will discuss Gee's fiction for adult readers.

Author Biography

Elizabeth Hale is a senior lecturer in English and writing at the University of New England, in Armidale, Australia, where she teaches children's literature, media, and creative writing. She has published widely on topics in children's literature, 19th-century literature, and classical reception studies. With Sarah Winters, she is coeditor of Marvellous Codes: The Fiction of Margaret Mahy. Elizabeth grew up in New Zealand, and studied English literature and Latin at the University of Otago before doing her MA and PhD at Brandeis University in the US.