Philip Temple discusses half a century of living as a writer in Aotearoa, on the NZSA Oral History Podcast

“I tend to think that one of the reasons public institutions are not very keen on writers is because they have too much to say.”

Season 4 of the NZSA Oral History podcast continues with Philip Temple, a New Zealand author and campaigner on behalf of writers in Aotearoa, for almost 50 years. Philip is an award-winning author of ten novels and more than thirty non-fiction books for both adults and children. His anthropomorphic novels, such as Beak of the Moon, are unique in New Zealand literature. His biography of the Wakefield family, A Sort of Conscience, earned several awards, including Melbourne University’s Ernest Scott History Prize. A number of his books have been published internationally. He has written extensively for television, contributed to countless magazine and journals, and been an editor for the NZ Listener and Landfall. In 2007, his examined work earned him the higher degree of Doctor of Literature from the University of Otago.

In a wide-ranging discussion, drawing from his NZSA Oral History recordings, Philip talks with Deborah Shepard about writing his first book, his writing influences, his discovery of the mountain landscapes of New Zealand, joining PEN and initiating the name change to NZSA, the public lending right for authors, funding from government for writers, the variety of funding needed to make a book profitable, and the importance of the union for and unity of writers through NZSA.

Philip was the recipient of the 2003 Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers’ Residency and, earlier, held the Menton Katherine Mansfield Fellowship, the Robert Burns Fellowship and the National Library Fellowship. He received a Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in 2005 and has been appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for his services to literature. He lives in Dunedin with his wife, poet Diane Brown.

Philip’s episode is accompanied by a beautiful photo portrait of the writer taken by John McDermott, and is hosted as always by New Zealand broadcaster, NZSA member and author Karyn Hay.

This is the fourth season of the NZSA Oral History Podcasts, using author oral histories that NZSA began recording in the 1990’s. You can listen to all past episodes from writers (both living and dead) on our website, Google, Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen (search ‘NZ Society of Authors’).

NZSA would like to thank The Southern Trust for funding this season, and also UNESCO and the Otago Community Trust for the funding to record new oral histories with authors based in Otago.