Elspeth Somerville Sandys (born 1940) is a New Zealand author and script writer.
Background
Born in
Timaru in 1940, she grew up in
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
. She was adopted by the Alley family and was exposed to literature from a young age by
Rewi Alley. She uses the surname Sandys as a pseudonym.
Sandys received an MA (First Class Honours) in English from the
University of Auckland
, mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work
, established = 1883; years ago
, endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021)
, budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021)
, chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant
, vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...
, an Associate Diploma (FTCL) in Speech & Drama and a Fellowship Diploma (LTCL) in Music, both from
Trinity College London.
Works
Sandys's fiction often focuses on personal, social, and political relationships. While some of her novels are historical fiction their motivating themes remain contemporary. In addition to her published works, Sandys has taught creative writing and worked as an editor at
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
.
Novels
* ''Obsession'' (Upstart Press, 2017)
* ''A Passing Guest'' (Flamino, 2002)
* ''Enemy Territory'' (Hodder Moa Beckett, 1997)
* ''Riding to Jerusalem'' (in New Zealand: Hodder Moa-Beckett, 1997, and in the UK: Hodder & Stoughton,1997 )
* ''River Lines'' (in New Zealand: Hodder Moa-Beckett, 1995, and in the UK: Hodder & Stoughton, 1995)
* ''Finding Out'' (Vintage, 1991), also published in French as ''Découvertes'' (Actes Sud, 1997)
* ''Love and War'' (William Collins, 1982)
* ''The Broken Tree'' (Hutchinson, 1981), published in the United States under the title ''The Burning Dawn'' (Dell, 1981)
* ''Catch a Falling Star'' (Blond and Briggs, 1978)
Short story collections
* ''Standing in Line'' (published in English and Spanish, in Mexico by the Secretariat of Culture, 2005)
* ''Best Friends'' (David Ling, 1993)
Poetry
Sandys has had poems and short fiction published in several journals including in: ''
Landfall'' (multiple pieces including short story 'The Postman', 2012); ''PEN'' (UK);
''
New Zealand Listener
The ''New Zealand Listener'' is a weekly New Zealand magazine that covers the political, cultural and literary life of New Zealand by featuring a variety of topics, including current events, politics, social issues, health, technology, arts, f ...
''; and ''New Zealand Books Pukapuka Aotearoa.''
Non-fiction
* ''What Lies Beneath: a memoir'' (Otago University Press, 2014)
* ''Casting Off: a memoir'' (Otago University Press, 2017)
* ''A Communist in the Family: Searching for Rewi Alley'' (Otago University Press, 2019)
With John Man, Sandys has ghostwritten several non-fiction works including ''The Survival of Jan Little'' (Penguin Books, 1986).
Sandys has written for both the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
and
Radio New Zealand
Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and c ...
including original plays and adaptations, and scripts for film and television, with performances taking place in the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
Honours and awards
Her novel, ''River Lines'', was longlisted for the 1996
Orange Prize and her unpublished collection of short stories, ''Standing in Line'', won the Elena Garro Prize in 2003.
In 2005, her play ''Vagabonds'' (previously titled ''Masquerade'') was selected for the
International Playwriting Festival
The International Play writing Festival was founded in 1986 by Steve Gooch and Ted Craig and was hosted by the new playwriting theatre, Warehouse Theatre until the Warehouse Theater Company Limited went into administration in May 2012. The Festiv ...
in London. It was also shortlisted in 2006 in the Columbus State Theatre Playwriting Competition.
In the
2006 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 2006 in some Commonwealth realms were announced (on 31 December 2005) in
the United Kingdom,
New Zealand, Grenada, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, and Saint Christopher and Nevis to cel ...
, Sandys was appointed an
Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit
The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...
, for services to literature.
Residencies and fellowships
In 1992 Sandys was awarded the
Grimshaw Sargeson Fellowship with
Gaelyn Gordon
The Gaelyn Gordon Award is awarded annually by the Children's Literature Foundation (now called the Storylines Children's Literature Foundation) to a well-loved work of New Zealand children's fiction.
History
This award is named after Gaelyn Go ...
. She was awarded the
Robert Burns Fellowship, in 1995, a literary residency at the
University of Otago in
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
, New Zealand.
In 2016 she received a residency at the Michael King Writers’ Centre.
References
External links
Official homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandys, Elspeth
Living people
New Zealand fiction writers
New Zealand women novelists
New Zealand women short story writers
Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit
University of Auckland alumni
Alumni of Trinity College of Music
People from Timaru
1940 births