James Norcliffe Explained

James Norcliffe
Birth Name:James Samuel Norcliffe
Birth Date:3 March 1946
Birth Place:Greymouth, New Zealand
Occupation:Writer

James Samuel Norcliffe (born 3 March 1946) is a New Zealand novelist, short story writer, poet, editor, teacher and educator. His work has been widely published and he has been the recipient of a number of writing residencies. Several of his books have been shortlisted for or won awards, including The Loblolly Boy which won the New Zealand Post Junior Fiction Award in 2010. He lives at Church Bay, Lyttelton Harbour, New Zealand.

Biography

James Norcliffe was born on 3 March 1946[1] in Greymouth. Some of his favourite books as a child were classics such as Coral Island, Treasure Island, The Heroes, Swiss Family Robinson, Alice in Wonderland and Wind in the Willows, Elleston Trevor’s The Island of the Pines, and the Just William books and Bunter.[2]

He is a teacher, writer and editor and has published several collections of poetry and a number of novels for children and young adults. His work has been published widely in journals both in New Zealand (including Landfall, Islands and Sport) and overseas, and his short stories for children have been widely anthologised.[3] He has been poetry and short story editor of takahē magazine[4] and poetry editor of the Christchurch Press, and has worked closely with the Christchurch School for Young Writers, including editing the annual Re-Draft anthologies.[5] With Joanna Preston, he collected earthquake poems written in the weeks and months after the 2010 Canterbury Earthquake and subsequent earthquakes, and edited Leaving the Red Zone, an anthology of 148 poems by 87 poets from across New Zealand.[6] [7] [8] With Elizabeth Smither, he was judge of the 2016 Flash Fiction Day competition.[9] [10]

He has appeared at a number of festivals and other book events including the Queensland Poetry Festival (2008), the International Poetry Festival in Medellin, Colombia, (2010), the Trois Rivieres International Poetry Festival in Quebec (2011)[11] [12] and the WORD Christchurch Festival (2018).[13]

James Norcliffe has lived in or near Christchurch for much of his life, apart from spells in China (in the 1980s) and Brunei Darussalam (in the 1990s).[14] He is married with two children and lives with his wife at Church Bay, Lyttelton Harbour.[15]

Awards and prizes 

Several of Norcliffe's books have been shortlisted for awards or named as Storylines Notable Books.[16] The Assassin of Gleam won the Sir Julius Vogel Award for the best New Zealand fantasy novel of 2006, and was shortlisted for the 2007 LIANZA Esther Glen Medal. The Loblolly Boy won the 2010 NZ Post Junior Fiction Award and was shortlisted for the Esther Glen Medal and the Sir Julius Vogel Science Fiction Award.[17]

Norcliffe won the Lilian Ida Smith Award in 1990[18] and the New Zealand Poetry Society's international competition in 1992. In 2003, he and Bernadette Hall received the inaugural Christchurch Press Literary Liaisons Honour Award for ‘lasting contribution to literature in the South Island’.

Norcliffe was awarded the Robert Burns Fellowship at the University of Otago in 2000.[19] In 2006, he took up the Creative New Zealand Iowa University Fellowship and also took part in the Tasmanian Writers’ Island of Residencies programme.[20] He was Visiting Artist at Massey University in 2008[21] and he was the recipient of the 2012 University of Otago College of Education / Creative New Zealand Children's Writer in Residence.[22] [23] During this residency, he wrote his children's novel Felix and the Red Rats.[24] He was the Creative New Zealand Randell Cottage Writing Fellow in 2018.[25] [26]

In 2022 he received the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in Poetry,[27] while in 2023 he won the Margaret Mahy Medal.[28]

Publications

As author

As editor

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Interview with James Norcliffe. 2002. Christchurch City Libraries Nga Kete Wananga o Otautahi. 28 November 2018.
  2. Web site: Reading Festival: James Norcliffe was a child for so long!. Green. Paula. 14 November 2013. Poetry Box. 28 November 2018.
  3. Web site: James Norcliffe. NZSA The New Zealand Society of Authors (Pen NZ Inc) Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa. 28 November 2018.
  4. Web site: James Norcliffe. Best New Zealand Poems 2005. 28 November 2018.
  5. Web site: Three southern gentlemen poets: David Eggleton; David Howard; James (Jim) Norcliffe. Rapatahana. Vaughan. 18 September 2015. Jacket2. 10 December 2018.
  6. Web site: Joanna Preston and James Norcliffe - Canterbury Poems. 28 February 2016. Radio NZ. 10 December 2018.
  7. Web site: Earthquake poetry anthology launch. Zelas. Karen. 1 March 2016. Takahe magazine. 10 December 2018.
  8. Web site: Poetry from a broken city. Matthews. Philip. 30 March 2016. Stuff. 10 December 2018.
  9. Web site: Interview: Rebecca Styles with 2016 NFFD Judges James Norcliffe and Elizabeth Smither. Styles. Rebecca. 29 February 2016. Flash Frontier. 10 December 2018.
  10. Web site: Fifth National Flash Fiction Day biggest yet. Black. Eleanor. 20 June 2016. Stuff. 10 December 2018.
  11. Web site: Ten days of poetry. 12 October 2011. Jottings. 28 November 2018.
  12. Web site: James Norcliffe ANZL Member. ANZL Academy of New Zealand Literature Te Whare Matatuhi o Aotearoa. 28 November 2018.
  13. Web site: Sometimes, What You Don't Say Is the Story. Word Christchurch Festival 2018. 28 November 2018.
  14. Web site: James Norcliffe. Virtual Learning Network. 28 November 2018.
  15. Web site: James Norcliffe. Storylines. 28 November 2018.
  16. Web site: Storylines Notable Books Awards. Storylines. 28 November 2018. 12 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191212143106/https://www.storylines.org.nz/Awards/Storylines+Notable+Books+Awards.html. dead.
  17. Web site: James Norcliffe. Penguin Books New Zealand. 28 November 2018.
  18. Web site: NZSA Lilian Ida Smith Award : recipients to 2017. NZSA The New Zealand Society of Authors (Pen NZ Inc) Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa. 28 November 2018.
  19. Web site: The Robert Burns Fellowship - previous recipients since the Fellowship was established. University of Otago Te Whare Wananga o Otago. 28 November 2018.
  20. Web site: Norcliffe, James. May 2016. New Zealand Book Council Te Kaunihera Pukapuka o Aotearoa. 28 November 2018.
  21. Web site: Visiting Artist Scheme. 2 November 2018. Massey University Te Kunenga ki Purehuroa. 28 November 2018.
  22. Web site: The University of Otago College of Education/Creative New Zealand Children's Writer in Residence - Previous Recipients. University of Otago Te Whare Wananga o Otago. 28 November 2018.
  23. Web site: Continuing a 'fine tradition'. Haggart. Matthew. 14 September 2011. Otago Daily Times. 10 December 2018.
  24. Web site: Q & A with James Norcliffe, author of Felix and the Red Rats – a finalist in the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards. 20 April 2014. My Opinion on Various Books. 28 November 2018.
  25. Web site: The Writers. Randell Cottage Writers Trust. 28 November 2018.
  26. Norcliffe. James. Spring 2018. A distinctive residency. New Zealand Author. Issue 314. 31–32.
  27. Web site: Chumko . André . 1 December 2022 . Writers honoured by prime minister for their contribution to New Zealand literature . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221201034443if_/https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/130623369/writers-honoured-by-prime-minister-for-their-contribution-to-new-zealand-literature . 1 December 2022 . 1 December 2022 . Stuff.
  28. Web site: 2023-03-08 . Norcliffe announced as 2023 Margaret Mahy Medal winner . 2023-03-08 . Books+Publishing . en-AU.

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