Graham John Billing (12 January 1936 – 11 December 2001) was a New Zealand novelist, journalist and poet. He was born in Dunedin, and educated at the

Otago Boys' High School Otago Boys' High School (OBHS) is a secondary school in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is one of New Zealand's oldest boys' secondary schools. Originally known as Dunedin High School, it was founded on 3 August 1863 and moved to its present site in 18 ...

and the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

where his father was professor of economics. He was a newspaper and radio journalist from 1958 to 1977. He had spent four years working on ships, which is reflected in the novel ''The Slipway''. He was information officer for the New Zealand Antarctic Research Programme from 1962 to 1964, reflected in his first novel ''Forbush and the Penguins'', which was adapted to film in 1971 as ''

Mr. Forbush and the Penguins ''Mr. Forbush and the Penguins'' (also known as ''Cry of the Penguins'') is a 1971 British comedy drama film, directed by Arne Sucksdorff, Alfred Viola and Roy Boulting. It stars John Hurt, Hayley Mills, Dudley Sutton and Tony Britton. The scr ...

''. Billing was awarded the

Robert Burns Fellowship The Robert Burns Fellowship is a New Zealand literary residency. Established in 1958 to coincide with bicentennial celebrations of the birth of Robert Burns, it is often claimed to be New Zealand's premier literary residency. The list of past ...

in Dunedin in 1973. The poems in ''Changing Countries'' were written after two years teaching in Australia from 1974 to 1975. An autobiographical element in ''The Slipway'' is his struggle with alcoholism. He also wrote three radio plays and the text for three non-fiction works ''South: Man and Nature in Antarctica'' (1964), ''New Zealand: The Sunlit Land'' (1966) and ''The New Zealanders'' (1975, 1979).

Published works

Novels

* ''Forbush and the Penguins'' (A.H. & A.W. Reed, 1965) * ''The Alpha Trip'' (Whitcombe & Tombs, 1969) * ''Statues'' (Hodder and Stoughton, 1971) * ''The Slipway'' (Quartet Books, 1973) * ''The Primal Therapy of Tom Purslane'' (Caveman Press, 1980) * ''The Chambered Nautilus'' (Canterbury University Press, 1993) * ''The Lifeboat'' (Cape Catley, 1997) * ''The Blue Lion: An Historical Love Story'' (Cape Catley, 2002)

Poetry

* ''Changing Countries'' (Caveman Press, 1980)

Non-fiction

* ''South: Man and Nature in Antarctica: A New Zealand View'' (photographs by Guy Mannering, A.H. & A.W. Reed, 1964) * ''New Zealand: The Sunlit Land'' (photographs by R.J. Griffith; A.H. & A.W. Reed, 1966) * ''The New Zealanders'' (photographs by Robin Smith and Warren Jacobs; Golden Press, 1975)

References

* * * Obituary in ''Evening Post'', Wellington, 27 December 2001 page 9 {{DEFAULTSORT:Billing, Graham 1936 births 2001 deaths Writers from Dunedin New Zealand poets People educated at Otago Boys' High School University of Otago alumni 20th-century New Zealand writers 20th-century New Zealand male writers 20th-century New Zealand journalists