William Robin Taylor (11 October 1938 – 3 October 2015) was a New Zealand writer.

Biography

Taylor was born in

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most p ...

. Before he began writing in the 1980s, Taylor worked as a primary school principal and served as mayor of Ohakune from 1981 to 1988, before moving to Raurimu. He won the Choysa Bursary in 1986, and turned his attention to writing full-time that year. Taylor's last book was published in 2010, the memoir ''Telling Tales: A Life in Writing''. Taylor died in 2015 at

Taumarunui Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kuiti and 55 km west of ...

. His funeral was held on 8 October 2015, three days before he was to turn 77.

Honours and awards

Over the course of his career, Taylor won the

Esther Glen Award The Esther Glen Award, or LIANZA Esther Glen Junior Fiction Award, is the longest running and the most renowned literary prize for New Zealand children's literature. History The prize was called into being in memory of New Zealand writer Alic ...

(1991), an AIM Children's Book Award (1995), a

Margaret Mahy Medal The Margaret Mahy Award, officially the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal and Lecture Award, is a New Zealand literary prize presented to a person who has made a significant contribution to children's literature, publishing or literacy. Presented ann ...

(1999), and was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award (2000). In the

2004 Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2004 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2004 for the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the Cook IslandsCook Islands list: and elsewhere to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2004. The recipients of honours are d ...

, Taylor 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 children's literature and the community.

Works

Adult fiction

*''Episode'' (1970) *''The Mask of the Clown'' (1970) *''The Plekhov Place'' (1971) *''Pieces in a Jigsaw'' (1972) *''The Persimmon Tree'' (1972) *''The Chrysalis'' (1974)

Non-fiction

*''Burnt Carrots Don't Have Legs'' (1976) *''Telling Tales a Life in Writing'' (2010)

Young Adult fiction

*''Pack Up, Pick Up And Off'' (1981) *''Shooting Though'' (1986) *''My Summer Of The Lions'' (1986) *''Possum Perkins'' (1987), printed in the US as ''Paradise Lane'' (1987) *''The Worst Soccer Team Ever'' (1987) *''Break A Leg'' (1987) *''Making Big Bucks'' (1987) *''I Hate My Brother Maxwell Potter'' (1989) *''Kidnap of Jessie Parker'' (1989) *''Agnes The Sheep'' (1990) *''The Porter Brothers'' (1990) *''Knitwits'' (1992) *''Supermum And Spike The Dog'' (1992) *''Fast Times At Greenhill High'' (1992) *''Beth And Bruno'' (1992) *''S.W.A.T. The Southside War Against Terrorists'' (1993) *''The Blue Lawn'' (1994) *''Numbskulls'' (1995 *''The Fatz Katz'' (1995) *''Annie and Co. And Marilyn Munroe'' (1995) *''The Fatz Twins And The Haunted House'' (1996) *''Nick's'' Story'' (1996) *''Circles'' (1996) *''Hark The Herald Angel'' (1997) *''The Fatz Twins And The Cuckoo In The Nest'' (1997) *''At Then Big Red Rooster'' (1998) *''Harry Houdini-Wonderdog!'' (1999) *''Jerome'' (1999) *''Hotmail'' (2000) *''Crash! The Story Of Poddy'' (2000) *''Scarface and the Angel'' (2000) *''Spider: A Novel'' (2001) *''Pebble in a Pool'' (2003) *''Land of Milk and Honey'' (2005) *''Gladys the Goat'' (2005) *''Albert the Cat'' (2005)

References

1938 births 2015 deaths 20th-century New Zealand writers 20th-century New Zealand male writers 21st-century New Zealand writers New Zealand children's writers Mayors of places in Manawatū-Whanganui People from Lower Hutt Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit People from Ohakune International Writing Program alumni {{NewZealand-mayor-stub