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Murdoch Stephens (born 1981) is a New Zealand author, researcher and refugee advocate. He is founding editor of Lawrence & Gibson publishing and previously wrote under the name Richard Meros. [1] In 2013 he founded the Double the Refugee Quota campaign that led to the doubling of New Zealand's refugee quota in 2020. [2] [3]
Stephens was raised in South Otago [4] and attended South Otago High School, [5] before studying at the University of Otago. [6]
After living in Syria, prior to the Civil War, and finding a series of photos of Afghan refugees, Stephens began the Double the Quota campaign in 2013. [3] [7]
By the time of the 2017 election, the campaign had gained prominence with civil society, media and political parties. [8] His experience of the campaign was published as a book by Bridget Williams Books in 2018. [9] [10] Stephens also campaigned against race-based restrictions in New Zealand's refugee quota, [11] which were removed in late 2019. [12]
Stephens completed a PhD, which was published as an academic book in 2018. [13] He lectured at Massey University [12] before becoming a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Auckland's Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies (CAPRS).
Richard Meros is a pseudonym used by Stephens, as well as appearing as a character in another of his novels, released under the name Nestor Notabilis. [14] Prior to the revelation of his identity, it had been speculated that Meros' real persona was either Stephens, actor Arthur Meek or one of the other members of Lawrence & Gibson publishing. [15]
First published in 2005, On the Conditions and Possibilities of Helen Clark Taking Me as Her Young Lover , received favourable reviews in New Zealand [16] and international press. [17] The book, often shortened to OTC&POHCTMAHYL, asked why Helen Clark, the Prime Minister at the time would want a young lover and then why the young lover would be Meros. The book is a work of metafiction as it concludes that the greatest likelihood of Meros being taken as a young lover would be if he wrote a book on the conditions and possibilities of being taken as a young lover. [18] The Guardian described it as 'decidedly lascivious' [17] and the NZ Listener called it a 'mock philosophical treatise' before praising it as 'the underground publishing hit of the decade'. [18]
The book was reissued and adapted into a play of the same name in 2007, [19] touring nationally and was nominated for theatrical performance of the year. [20] For his role as Meros, Arthur Meek was awarded the most promising male newcomer of 2008 at the Chapman Tripp Awards. [21] In 2015, the book was once again adapted into a play that substitutes Hillary Clinton for Helen Clark. [22]
In total, Stephens has released eight books under the Meros pseudonym through Lawrence & Gibson in New Zealand, including novels and political/cultural satire, though none have achieved the success of On the conditions and possibilities of Helen Clark taking me as her Young Lover. [23] [24] These other books include two adapted for theatre, both of which toured widely:
As Meros he has also written for a wide range of publications in New Zealand from current affairs magazine NZ Listener [31] and daily newspaper the Dominion Post to arts publications White Fungus [32] and Pantograph Punch. [33] In 2015, he was a recipient of Eleanor Catton's Horoeka Grant. In response he wrote the essay 'New Bourgeoizealand'. [34]
In 2020, he released his first novel under his own name, Rat King Landlord, with Lawrence & Gibson. [35] The book was well received featuring on best of the year lists [36] and was subsequently praised as "last year's surprise literary hit". [37] The novel led to some public commentary on the problems with New Zealand's housing market, [38] [39] and a 2023 partnership with Renters United to re-release ten thousand copies of the novel in tabloid format with launches and events around the county. [40] [41]
In 2022 he released Down from Upland, which was long-listed for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2023. [42] [43] Writing in Landfall, Craig Cliff, said:
Just as the content of the novel revolves around maturity, how teenagers seek it and Millennial parents shirk it, Down from Upland feels like a confident stride towards a new, fully-fledged form for Murdoch Stephens. [44]
In addition to being an author he maintains his role of an editor at Lawrence & Gibson publishing [45] and regularly writes for a range of news media including the Spinoff [46] and Stuff. [47]
As Murdoch Stephens:
As Richard Meros:
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