Robert Philip Temple (born 1939 in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, England) is a

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-based New Zealand author of novels, children's stories, and non-fiction. His work is characterised by a strong association with the outdoors and New Zealand

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Career

Temple's early work was non-fiction, describing mountaineering expeditions to New Guinea and New Zealand and includes ''Nawok!'' (1962), ''Castles in the Air: Men and Mountains in New Zealand'' (1969), ''The Sea and the Snow: The South Indian Ocean Expedition to Heard Island (1966)'', and ''The World at Their Feet'' (1973). Following this he produced a number of novels - ''The Explorer'' (1975), ''Stations'' (1979), ''Beak of the Moon'' (1981), ''Sam'' (1984), ''Dark of the Moon'' (1993), and ''To Each His Own'' (1999) - and many children's books, among which the most notable are ''The Legend of the

Kea The kea (; ; ''Nestor notabilis'') is a species of large parrot in the family Nestoridae found in the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About long, it is mostly olive-green with a brilliant orange under its wing ...

'' (1986), '' Kakapo, Parrot of the Night'' (1988), and '' Kotuku, Flight of the White Heron'' (1994). In 1980. Temple held the

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at the

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. More recently, Temple has turned to an autobiographical relation of his own mountaineering adventures (''The Last True Explorer'' (2002)) and a history of the

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

clan in New Zealand (''A Sort of Conscience: The Wakefields'' (

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, 2002), which won the Ernest Scott History Prize in 2003, the Ian Wards Prize for Historical Writing in 2003, and the Biography category of the 2003 Montana New Zealand Book Awards. He was also awarded the 2003 Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers’ Residency and the 2005 Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement in non-fiction.

Works

Non-Fiction

* ''Nawok!: The New Zealand Expedition to New Guinea's Highest Mountains'' (J.M. Dent, 1962) * ''The Sea and the Snow: The South Indian Ocean Expedition to Heard Island'' (Cassell, 1966) * ''The World at Their Feet'' (Whitcombe & Tombs, 1969) * ''Mantle of the Skies: Southern Alps of New Zealand (Whitcombe & Tombs, 1971) * ''Christchurch: A City and its People'' (Whitcombe & Tombs, 1973) * ''Castles in the Air: Men and Mountains in New Zealand'' (John McIndoe, 1973) * ''New Zealand Explorers: Great Journeys of Discovery'' (Whitcoulls, 1985) * ''A Sort of Conscience: The Wakefields'' (Auckland University Press, 2002) * ''The Last True Explorer: Into Darkest New Guinea'' (Godwit, 2002) * ''Mountain: Where the Land Touches the Sky'' (Penguin, 2007) * ''Life As A Novel: A Biography of Maurice Shadbolt. Volume One 1932–1973'' (David Ling, 2018)

Novels

* ''The Explorer'' (Hodder & Stoughton, 1975) * ''Stations'' (Collins, 1979) * ''Beak of the Moon'' (Collins, 1981) * ''Sam'' (Hodder & Stoughton, 1984) * ''Dark of the Moon'' (1993) * ''To Each His Own'' (Hazard, 1999) * ''White Shadows, Memories of Marienbad'' (Vintage, 2005) * ''I Am Always With You'' (Vintage, 2006) * ''MiStory'' (Frontpublishing, 2014)

Children's Literature

* ''The Legend of the Kea'' (1986) * ''Kakapo, Parrot of the Night'' (1988) * ''Kotuku, Flight of the White Heron'' (1994)

References

1939 births Living people New Zealand male novelists Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Writers from Dunedin New Zealand biographers Male biographers New Zealand children's writers New Zealand autobiographers 20th-century New Zealand novelists English emigrants to New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand male writers {{NewZealand-writer-stub