David McGill
Feature writer on NZ Listener, The Bulletin, National Times, TV Times London and New Statesman, Metro and North and South.
Editor of New Times and W5. Publisher of Growl Press, Platform Publishing and Silver Owl Press.
Full-time writer since 1984 of mostly NZ social history and NZ fiction with NZ history backdrop, publisher of histories of NZ Customs Department and NZ Police Service organisations, NZ minesweepers, poetry by Peggy Dunstan, NZ history by Tony Simpson, Professor Tony Taylor's autobiography, Linda Niccol short stories.
No 1 NZ bestsellers The Other New Zealanders, A Dictionary of Kiwi Slang and Island of Secrets, a history of Matiu/Somes Island.
Claude McCarthy Fellowship 1997 at Victoria University of Wellington to write Island of Secrets: The History of Matiu/Somes Island. John and Robyn Laing bought the film rights to Irish rebellion against the British authorities on the West Coast goldfields The Lion and the Wolfhound. The producers used Matiu/Somes island book and author as adviser in a proposed series of plays and a film based on Maurice Gee’s novel set on the island. The G’Day Country was serialized by the Radio New Zealand drama department on the National Programme, with a script by the author.
Genre:
Skills:
- Adult Fiction
- Adult Non-Fiction
Branch:
Wellington
Location:
Paekakariki
Publications:
David McGill
Cityscapes, Methuen, 1977 In Praise of Older Buildings, Methuen, 1980
Ghost Towns of
The Other New Zealanders, Mallinson Rendel, 1982
The Pioneers of Port Nicholson, Reed, 1984 Harbourscapes, Growl Press, 1984
The G’Day Country and My Brilliant Suburb, Platform Publishing, 1985
POW: The Untold Stories of New Zealanders as Prisoners of War, Mills, 1989
The Kid from Matata, Grantham House, 1987 A Dictionary of Kiwi Slang, Mills, 1988
The Dinkum Kiwi Dictionary and I Had a Squashed Banana, Mills, 1989
Kiwi Babyboomers, Mills, 1989; The Lion and the Wolfhound, Grantham House, 1990
The Guardians at the Gate, Silver Owl Press, 1991
The Adventures of Horace-Thomas the Magic Horse, Silver Owl, 1991
No Right to Strike, Silver Owl/NZ Police Service Organisations, 1992
Whakaari, Gold in the Creek and McGill’s Dictionary of Kiwi Slang, Catchphrases, Characters and Kiwiosities, Silver Owl, 1995
I Almost Tackled Kel Tremain, Silver Owl, 1996 Landmarks, Godwit, 1997
David McGill’s Complete Kiwi Slang Dictionary, Reed, 1998
Full Circle: The History of the St James Theatre, Phantom House, 1998
From N to Z, Reed, 1998 The Dolly Lolly Diaries, Silver Owl, 1998
David McGill’s Rude New Zealand Limericks, Grantham House, 1999
Good Old Kiwi Identities, Grantham House, 2000
Island of Secrets, Matiu/Somes Island in Wellington Harbour, Steele Roberts/Silver Owl, 2001 Wellington -- A Capital Century, Transpress, 2003
The Reed Dictionary of
The Monstrance, Silver Owl Press, 2003.
The Reed Book of New Zealand Quotations, Reed, 2004 In Xtremis, Silver Owl, 2004
Stacey: The Life, Style and Trials of a Great New Zealand Criminal Lawyer, Silver Owl, 2005
The Girning of Government House, Silver Owl, 2005; Landmarks, Phantom House 2005
The First New Zealand Bushranger, Silver Owl, 2006
From My Cold, Dead Hands and The Treadmill Tapes: Confessions of a Compulsive Pop Picker, Silver Owl, 2007
The Mock Funeral: A Novel of the Irish Riots on the Goldfields of New Zealand, Silver Owl, 2008
The Communion of the Easter Bun-Rabbit, Silver Owl, 2008
The G’Day Country Redux: A Rail Journey Back into New Zealand, Silver Owl, 2009
Shaking 1960, Silver Owl 2010
A Dictionary of Noughties Kiwi Slang and Geyser in the Creek, Silver Owl, 2011
The Compleat Cityscapes and The Promised Land, Silver Owl, 2012
The Slightly Mysterious Little Drummer Boy Who Became Mayor of Auckland, Silver Owl, 2013
Stamp in the Creek and Kingfisher, Kingfisher, Take My Luck, Silver Owl, 2014
The Death Ray Debacle, Silver Owl, 2015 The Plot to Kill Peter Fraser, Silver Owl, 2017
On a Bodgie Bike, Silver Owl, 2018
Death of an Agent, Silver Owl, 2019
The Manger, the Mikdash and the Mosque, Silver Owl, 2020
The Convict Stain, Silver Owl 2021
Back Home In Derry, Silver Owl 2022
The Kotuku Creek Chronicles, Silver Owl 2025
Back Home in Derry
Silver Owl Press, 2022