Carl Nixon

Last updated

Carl Nixon
Born1967 (age 56–57)
Christchurch, New Zealand
Alma mater University of Canterbury
Occupations
  • Novelist
  • short story writer
  • playwright
Years active1990–present
Awards

Carl Nixon (born 1967) is a New Zealand novelist, short story writer and playwright. He has written five novels and a number of original plays which have been performed throughout New Zealand, as well as adapting both Lloyd Jones' novel The Book of Fame and Nobel prize winner J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace for the stage.

Contents

Early life and career

Nixon was born and grew up in Christchurch, New Zealand. He attended St Andrew's College. [1] He has said that he had remedial reading lessons as a child and "didn't really get into books until I was ten or so". [2] In 1992, Nixon graduated with a master's degree in religious studies from the University of Canterbury. His thesis was entitled For they shall be comforted : an examination of the liturgy, usage and adequacy of the funeral service in A New Zealand prayer book (1989) with reference to the grief of the bereaved. [3] He briefly taught secondary school English before leaving to teach in Japan for two years. [4]

Nixon was one of the founding members of The Court Jesters, an improvisation troupe at the Court Theatre in Christchurch, in 1989. [5] He began his writing career writing children's plays for the Court Theatre. [6] He also wrote a young adult novel, Guardians of Mother Earth, published in December 1996. [7]

Literary career

Nixon began writing for adults in 1997, and won the Sunday Star-Times Short Story Competition, for "My Father Running with a Dead Boy" in 1997 (his first short story) [6] and "Weight" in 1999. [4] He was a runner up in the Bank of New Zealand Katherine Mansfield Short Story Competition in 1999 and won the premier prize in 2007. [8] His first collection of short stories, the best-selling Fish 'n' Chip Shop Song (Random House, 2006), was short-listed in the Best First Book Southeast Asia and South Pacific Region category in the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2007. [9]

Nixon was the Ursula Bethell/Creative New Zealand Writer in Residence at the University of Canterbury in 2007, where he completed his first novel, Rocking Horse Road (Random House, 2007). [9] Reviewing Rocking Horse Road in North & South in August 2007, Warwick Roger said Nixon "gets the style and timbre of teenagers just right" and had "fulfilled the promise he showed" in his first book. [10] Nixon subsequently published two further novels, Settlers' Creek (Random House, 2010) and The Virgin and the Whale (Random House, 2013). [9] In 2010/2011 he was the recipient of the NZSA Peter & Dianne Beatson Fellowship. [11] Nixon's first three novels have been translated into German and published by Weidle Verlag in Bonn, Germany. [12] The Virgin and the Whale was titled Lucky Newman in the German translation. [6]

Nixon has written a number of original plays including Mathew, Mark, Luke and Joanne, The Birthday Boy and The Raft, which have been performed throughout New Zealand. [9] [13] His play The Raft (2007) was adapted for Radio New Zealand and won Best Dramatic Production 2009 at the 2009 New Zealand Radio Awards. [14] He has also adapted Lloyd Jones' novel The Book of Fame and Nobel prize winner J. M. Coetzee's novel Disgrace for the stage. [4] In 2020 he received the McNaughton South Island Play Award at the Adam NZ Play Awards for the best play written by a South Island resident. [15]

In 2017 Nixon was the recipient of the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, one of New Zealand's most prestigious literary fellowships. [16] He spent around three months in 2018 living and writing in Menton, France at the Villa Isola Bella, where Katherine Mansfield herself lived and worked, and was able to complete the first draft of his next novel, The Tally Stick. [17] This novel was published in August 2020. [18] It was well received by critics, with journalist Philip Matthews describing it as "an efficient, gripping story, a Kiwi Gothic thriller that is confidently and economically told", [19] and Erin Harrington in The Spinoff describing it as "taut and well-plotted, balancing a mounting sense of dread with unexpected payoffs, and dancing across two parallel storylines". [20] It was shortlisted for the 2021 Best Novel prize at the Ngaio Marsh Awards. [21]

His fifth novel, The Waters, was published in August 2023. [22] It is a collection of 21 interlinked stories set in New Brighton; a review in Newsroom describes the stories as "beautifully crafted and compelling, like holding up a prism and seeing the many ways the light refracts". [23]

Personal life

As of 2020 Nixon lived in Christchurch. He is married with two children. [16]

Selected works

Novels

Short story collections

Plays

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ngaio Marsh</span> New Zealand crime writer and theatre director (1895–1982)

Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh was a New Zealand mystery writer and theatre director. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand literature</span> Literature of the people of New Zealand

New Zealand literature is literature, both oral and written, produced by the people of New Zealand. It often deals with New Zealand themes, people or places, is written predominantly in New Zealand English, and features Māori culture and the use of the Māori language. Before the arrival and settlement of Europeans in New Zealand in the 19th century, Māori culture had a strong oral tradition. Early European settlers wrote about their experiences travelling and exploring New Zealand. The concept of a "New Zealand literature", as distinct from English literature, did not originate until the 20th century, when authors began exploring themes of landscape, isolation, and the emerging New Zealand national identity. Māori writers became more prominent in the latter half of the 20th century, and Māori language and culture have become an increasingly important part of New Zealand literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Frame</span> New Zealand author (1924–2004)

Janet Paterson Frame was a New Zealand author. She is internationally renowned for her work, which includes novels, short stories, poetry, juvenile fiction, and an autobiography, and received numerous awards including being appointed to the Order of New Zealand, New Zealand's highest civil honour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice Gee</span> New Zealand novelist (born 1931)

Maurice Gough Gee is a New Zealand novelist. He is one of New Zealand's most distinguished and prolific authors, having written over thirty novels for adults and children, and has won numerous awards both in New Zealand and overseas, including multiple top prizes at the New Zealand Book Awards, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in the UK, the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, the Robert Burns Fellowship and a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement. In 2003 he was recognised as one of New Zealand's greatest living artists across all disciplines by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand, which presented him with an Icon Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mandy Hager</span> New Zealand writer

Amanda Hager is a writer of fiction and non-fiction for children, young adults and adults. Many of her books have been shortlisted for or won awards, including Singing Home the Whale which won both the Young Adult fiction category and the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults in 2015. She has been the recipient of several fellowships, residencies and prizes, including the Beatson Fellowship in 2012, the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship in 2014, the Waikato University Writer in Residence in 2015 and the Margaret Mahy Medal and Lecture Award in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lloyd Jones (New Zealand author)</span> New Zealand writer

Lloyd David Jones is a New Zealand author. His novel Mister Pip (2006) won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

The Court Jesters is a professional improv company founded in 1989 and based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is a subsidiary of the Court Theatre professional theatre company, acting as a second company within the theatre.

David Geary is a Māori writer from New Zealand who is known for his plays The Learners Stand, Lovelocks Dream Run and Pack of Girls. For television he has written for New Zealand series Shortland Street and Jackson's Wharf.

<i>Badjelly the Witch</i> 1973 book by Spike Milligan

Badjelly the Witch is a brief handwritten, illustrated story by Spike Milligan, created for his children, then printed in 1973. It was made into an audio and a video version.

Charlotte Grimshaw is a New Zealand novelist, short-story writer, columnist and former lawyer. She has written both fiction and non-fiction, often drawing on her legal experience. Her short stories and longer works often have interlinked themes and characters, and feature psychological and family dramas.

The Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, formerly known as the New Zealand Post Katherine Mansfield Prize and the Meridian Energy Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellowship, is one of New Zealand's foremost literary awards. Named after Katherine Mansfield, one of New Zealand's leading historical writers, the award gives winners funding towards transport to and accommodation in Menton, France, where Mansfield did some of her best-known and most significant writing.

Fiona Farrell is a New Zealand poet, fiction and non-fiction writer and playwright.

Craig Cliff is a New Zealand short story writer and novelist.

Rachel Phyllis McAlpine is a New Zealand poet, novelist and playwright. She is the author of 30 books including poetry, plays, novels, and books about writing and writing for the internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Direen</span> New Zealand writer and musician

Bill Direen is a musician and poet. He manages the music group Bilders and lives in Otago, New Zealand.

Sue McCauley QSM is a New Zealand novelist, short story writer, playwright, journalist and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rowley Habib</span> New Zealand writer

Rowley Habib, also known as Rore Hapipi, was a New Zealand poet, playwright, and writer of short stories and television scripts.

Stuart Hoar is a New Zealand playwright, teacher, novelist, radio dramatist and librettist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephanie Johnson (author)</span> New Zealand author

Stephanie Patricia Johnson is a poet, playwright, and short story writer from New Zealand. She lives in Auckland with her husband, film editor Tim Woodhouse, although she lived in Australia for much of her twenties. Many of her books have been published there, and her non-fiction book West Island, about New Zealanders in Australia, is partly autobiographical.

Albert Alexander Amahou Belz is a New Zealand actor, writer and lecturer.

References

  1. ↑ "Class Notes". Regulas. No. 2. St Andrew's College. August 2016. p. 60. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  2. ↑ Nixon, Carl (September 2008). "Late reader still a great writer". Christchurch City Council Libraries. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  3. ↑ Nixon, Carl (1992). For they shall be comforted : an examination of the liturgy, usage and adequacy of the funeral service in A New Zealand prayer book (1989) with reference to the grief of the bereaved (Master's thesis). UC Research Repository, University of Canterbury. doi:10.26021/3879. hdl:10092/8122.
  4. 1 2 3 "Nixon, Carl". Read NZ - Te Pou Muramura. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  5. ↑ "The Court Jesters Celebrate 20 Years Of Laughs With Improv Marathon 6/25". BroadwayWorld. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 "National portrait: Carl Nixon, writer". Stuff.co.nz. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  7. ↑ Guardians of Mother Earth Paperback – 19 Dec. 1996. ASIN   1869502167.
  8. ↑ "Carl Nixon". Academy of New Zealand Literature. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Carl Nixon". Penguin.co.nz. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  10. ↑ "Rocking Horse Road Critique". Carl Nixon. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  11. ↑ "2010/2011 Beatson Fellow Announced". Creative New Zealand. 21 October 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  12. ↑ "Carl Nixon - Autor/Künstler". Weidle Verlag. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Plays". Carl Nixon. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  14. ↑ "Carl Nixon". Playmarket. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  15. ↑ "2020 Adam NZ Play Award". Playmarket. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  16. 1 2 "Carl Nixon". The Arts Foundation. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  17. ↑ "Carl Nixon: Writing in Menton". The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  18. ↑ Nixon, Carl (4 August 2020). The Tally Stick. Random House NZ. ISBN   978-0-1437-7476-1 . Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  19. ↑ Matthews, Philip. "The Tally Stick by Carl Nixon". The Friday Review. Academy of New Zealand Literature. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  20. ↑ Harrington, Erin (1 September 2020). "Into the wild: A review of Carl Nixon's astonishing novel, The Tally Stick" . Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  21. ↑ "Ngaio Marsh Awards 2021 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 16 September 2021. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  22. ↑ Nixon, Carl (2023). The Waters. RHNZ Vintage. ISBN   9781761047121.
  23. ↑ Blundell, Sally (27 July 2023). "Book of the Week: It happened in Christchurch". Newsroom. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.