Maggie Rainey-Smith is a novelist, poet, short story writer, essayist and book reviewer. She lives in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, New Zealand.

Biography

Maggie Rainey-Smith was born in 1950 in Richmond,

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

. Her father, Reginald Mervyn Rainey, had served with the 2nd NZ Expeditionary Force in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was taken prisoner in

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

and held in Stalag VIIB in Poland. She grew up in Richmond and later travelled widely overseas, including to the United States, England, Scotland and Norway, afterwards returning to New Zealand and setting up a recruitment consultancy business. She completed a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature in 2002 and has also completed the Aoraki Writing Course in

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

under

Owen Marshall Owen Marshall Jones (born 17 August 1941, Te Kuiti, New Zealand), who writes under the pen name Owen Marshall, is a New Zealand short story writer and novelist. The third son of a Methodist minister younger brother of Allan Jones, and older br ...

in 2001, the Whitireia Advanced Diploma in Writing in 2003 and two undergraduate writing workshops at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

. Her short stories, poems and travel essays have been published in anthologies, online and in journals such as ''

Landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

'', ''Sport'', Headland, ''Takahe, NZ Listener, NZ Books, 4th Floor Literary Journal'' and ''Essential New Zealand Poems.'' In November 2007, while researching for her next book, she spent some time in Greece and met Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor on the occasion of his Name Day celebration, a day on which he always opened his home in

Kardamyli Kardamili ( el, Καρδαμύλη, variously transliterated as ''Kardamyle'', ''Cardamyle'', ''Kardhamili'', and ''Kardamyli'', and sometimes called "Skardamoula", especially on old maps) is a town by the sea thirty-five kilometers southeast of ...

to the local villagers. After his death, she posted some of the photographs taken that day as a tribute to him and a memory of such a special day. She has served as Chair of

New Zealand Society of Authors The New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN New Zealand Inc.) promotes and protects the interests of New Zealand writers. It was founded as the New Zealand PEN Centre (Poets, Essays and Novelists) in 1934. It broadened its scope and became the New Ze ...

(NZSA) Wellington, on the Randell Cottage Committee and on the committee of the

Wellington Writers Walk The Wellington Writers Walk is made up of a series of 23 quotations from New Zealand writers, including poets, novelists, and playwrights. The quotations are placed along the Wellington Waterfront, Wellington waterfront, from Kumutoto stream to ...

. She volunteered for eight years to run a creative writing course in the library of a local women's prison and presented a paper on this experience ("''Reading short stories in prison")'' at the

Dan Davin Daniel Marcus Davin (1 September 1913 – 28 September 1990), generally known as Dan Davin, was an author who wrote about New Zealand, although for most of his career he lived in Oxford, England, working for Oxford University Press. The themes o ...

Short Story Conference in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

in September 2017. She teaches ESOL Workplace English to migrants and refugees, and spent three months in

Siem Reap Siem Reap ( km, សៀមរាប, ) is the second-largest city of Cambodia, as well as the capital and largest city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia. Siem Reap has French colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the Old F ...

in 2013 as a volunteer teacher. She has two adult sons and lives with her husband in Wellington.

Awards and prizes

Rainey-Smith's novel ''About Turns'' was the first New Zealand novel to be chosen by booksellers

Whitcoulls Whitcoulls is a major New Zealand book, stationery, gift, games & toy retail chain. Formerly known as Whitcombe & Tombs, it has 54 stores nationally. Whitcombe & Tombs was founded in 1888, and Coulls Somerville Wilkie in 1871. The companies mer ...

as a Guaranteed Great Read. ''She'' was joint runner up for the

Landfall Essay Competition The ''Landfall'' Essay Competition is an annual competition open to New Zealand writers. It is judged by the current editor of the long-running literary magazine ''Landfall'' and the winning entry is published in a subsequent issue of the maga ...

in 2013 and appeared at the

Auckland Writers Festival Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki is the largest annual literary festival in Aotearoa New Zealand since 1999. It has about 200 public events each year featuring local and international writers as guests. History and staff The inaug ...

in 2016.

Bibliography

* ''About Turns'' (Random House, 2005) * ''Turbulence'' (Random House, 2007) * ''Eastbourne - an anthology'', edited by Mary McCallum, Anne Manchester and Maggie Rainey-Smith (

Mākaro Press Mākaro Press is a New Zealand publisher based in Wellington. It was founded in 2013 and has published several award-winning books including ''Auē'' by Becky Manawatu. History Mākaro was founded in 2013 by novelist and editor Mary McCallum ...

, 2013) * ''Daughters of Messene'' (Makaro Press, 2015) * ''Formica'' (Cuba Press, 2022)

References

External links

Official website

Biography of Maggie Rainey-Smith
at New Zealand Book Council: Te Kaunihera Pukapuka o Aotearoa
Biography of Maggie Rainey-Smith
at ANZL Academy of New Zealand Literature: Te Whare Mātātuhi o Aotearoa {{DEFAULTSORT:Rainey-Smith, Maggie 1950 births Living people New Zealand writers New Zealand women writers