Neville Douglas Peat (born 1947) is a New Zealand

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

, based at Broad Bay on the

Otago Peninsula The Otago Peninsula ( mi, Muaūpoko) is a long, hilly indented finger of land that forms the easternmost part of Dunedin, New Zealand. Volcanic in origin, it forms one wall of the eroded valley that now forms Otago Harbour. The peninsula lies sou ...

. He specialises in topics about natural history, notably that of southern New Zealand and New Zealand's subantarctic islands. He has written over 40 titles since the late 1970s and has been writing full-time since 1986. In 1994, Peat was named

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 ...

Citizen of the Year for his series of photographic books on the city and his establishment of the Dunedin Environmental Business Network, and in 1996 won the Montana New Zealand Book Awards for his book ''Wild Dunedin''. He has been a Councillor on the

Otago Regional Council Otago Regional Council (ORC) is the regional council for Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. The council's principal office is Regional House on Stafford Street in Dunedin with 250-275 staff, with smaller offices in Queenstown and Alexand ...

since 1998, and was its Deputy Chairperson from 2004 to 2007. In 2004, Peat was behind moves to create an official flag for Otago. This culminated in a competition run through the auspices of the '' Otago Daily Times'' newspaper and Otago Polytechnic School of Art towards the end of that year. In 2007, Peat was awarded the

Creative New Zealand The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government, investing in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes and developing markets ...

Michael King Writers' Fellowship, New Zealand's largest literary award. It allowed him to complete two major works, a comprehensive book on the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea ( Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer ...

, and the third story in the "Lark" trilogy exploring the nature of southern New Zealand. In 2016, he won the

CLNZ Writers' Award The CLNZ Writers’ Award is made annually with the support of the Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) Cultural Fund. It is open to New Zealand writers of non-fiction, including educational material. History The CLNZ Writers’ Award is an a ...

for his project ''The Invading Sea''. In the

2018 New Year Honours The 2018 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

, Peat was appointed a

Member 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 ren ...

, for services to conservation.

References

External links

Neville Peat
– the author's website

1947 births Living people People from Otago Peninsula New Zealand writers Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand photographers Otago regional councillors Dunedin City Councillors {{NewZealand-writer-stub