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Profile
The late Michael King (1945-2004) is New Zealand’s best-known and
bestselling popular historian and biographer. In his 30-year writing career
he tackled Māori history, national identity, current affairs, literary
history, memoir, war and general history. He won a wider range of awards for
his books, journalism and television work than any other New Zealand writer.
Selected published works
Moko: Māori Tattooing in the 20th Century, 1972; Moriori:
A People Rediscovered, 1989, Wattie Book Award; Maori: A Photographic and Social History, 1997; Wrestling with the Angel: A Life of Janet Frame, 2000, Montana Medal for Non-Fiction and Readers’ Choice Award in the Montana
New Zealand Book Awards 2001; The Penguin History of New Zealand, 2003; Being Pakeha Now, 2004; The Penguin History of New Zealand Illustrated, 2007.
Publishers
Penguin Books New Zealand www.penguin.co.nz
Biography
Michael King was born in Wellington in 1945 and studied history at the
universities of Victoria (Bachelor of Arts, 1967) and Waikato (Master of Arts,
1968). He subsequently worked as a journalist, and began his writing career
in 1970. His first book, Moko: Māori Tattooing in the 20th Century,
commemorated the dying art of facial tattooing among Māori women. The book
Moriori has been credited with being partly responsible for the re-emergence
of the Moriori people of the Chatham Islands. In all, King wrote over 34 books.
After his early works in Māori history and biography, he turned to writing
about what it means to be a Pākehā (European) New Zealander in his
bestselling books Being Pakeha (1985) and Being Pakeha Now
(1999). King’s last book before his untimely death was the The
Penguin History of New Zealand (2003), which became a bestseller at a time
when the country was deeply engaged in debate about its colonial past and modern
identity.
King is also considered one of the country’s leading literary biographers.
His Wrestling With the Angel: A Life of Janet Frame was both a critical
and commercial success, winning the Montana Medal, the Booksellers Choice award
and the Readers Choice award at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards in 2000.
It was also published in Australia, Britain and the United States. His biography
of the writer Frank Sargeson is also highly regarded.
King received the inaugural Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement
for Non-Fiction in 2003 and was made an Honorary Doctor of Literature by Victoria
University of Wellington.
Michael King died in 2004. As William Taylor, then president of the New Zealand
Society of Authors, said: “Michael King’s contribution to New Zealand
society and culture has been incomparable. In his recording of the history of
our country and its people he leaves us all a legacy of lasting worth.”
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