Martin Edmond (born 1952 in

Ohakune Ohakune is a small town at the southern end of Tongariro National Park, close to the southwestern slopes of the active volcano Mount Ruapehu, in the North Island of New Zealand. A rural service town known as New Zealand's Carrot Capital, Ohaku ...

) is a New Zealand author and screenplay writer. He is the son of writer

Lauris Edmond Lauris Dorothy Edmond (née Scott, 2 April 1924 – 28 January 2000) was a New Zealand poet and writer. Biography Born in Dannevirke, Hawke's Bay, Edmond survived the 1931 Napier earthquake as a child. Trained as a teacher, she raised a fa ...

Biography

Edmond studied Anthropology and English, graduating MA in English from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

. He spent a year working as a junior lecturer before joining avant garde theatre group Red Mole, with whom he spent five years as a writer and actor. He has lived in Sydney, Australia since 1981. He has a Doctorate of Creative Arts from Western Sydney University with his dissertation on Australian artists Rex Battarbee and Albert Namatjira.

Writing career

Edmond has written screenplays for several New Zealand feature films, including '' Illustrious Energy'' (1987); '' The Footstep Man'' (1991) and '' Terra Nova'' (1996). Edmond has written over 20 books. They include ''Streets of Music'' (1980), ''Houses, Days, Skies'' (1988), ''The Autobiography of My Father'' (1992), and ''The Resurrection of

Philip Clairmont Philip Anthony Clairmont (1949–1984) was a New Zealand painter. Biography Clairmont was born to Thelma and Rex Haines on 15 September 1949 in Nelson and named Philip Rex Haines. After his parents separated, his mother changed the family name i ...

'' (1999). ''The Autobiography of My Father'' was nominated for a 1993 Wattie's Book Award, and ''The Resurrection of Philip Clairmont'' was a finalist in the 2000

Montana New Zealand Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder Wa ...

. ''Dark Night'' (2011) is a partial

Colin McCahon Colin John McCahon (; 1August 191927May 1987) was a New Zealand artist whose work over 45 years consisted of various styles, including landscape, figuration, abstraction, and the overlay of painted text. Along with Toss Woollaston and Rita Angus ...

biography, and was successful in Australia. ''The Dreaming Land'' (2015) is a personal tale of a 1950s and 60s childhood in New Zealand. His 2017 book ''The Expatriates'' (

Bridget Williams Books Bridget Williams Books is a New Zealand book publisher, established in 1990 by Bridget Williams. Establishment Williams established the company in 1990 when the company she was working for, Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a Brit ...

, ) is a history of four extraordinary New Zealanders: Harold Williams,

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roma ...

John Platts-Mills John Faithful Fortescue Platts-Mills, (4 October 1906 – 26 October 2001) was a British barrister and left-wing politician. He was the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Finsbury from 1945 to 1948, when he was expelled from the party effec ...

, and Joe Trapp; Edmond used research material passed on by the late James McNeish. ''Bus Stops on the Moon: Red Mole Days 1974-1980'' about Edmond's experiences with Red Mole was published in 2020 and was longlisted for the 2021

Ockham New Zealand Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder Wa ...

for general nonfiction. Edmond was commissioned to write a history of the

Sarjeant Gallery The Sarjeant Gallery at Pukenamu, Queen's Park Whanganui is a regional art museum with a collection of international and New Zealand art. It was closed for 10 years for redevelopment and re-opened on Saturday 9 November 2024. In 2024 it was anno ...

Whanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whanganui is ...

''Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery: A Whanganui biography which was published in 2024.''

Awards and honours

*2004

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 ...

*2005 Montana New Zealand Book Award in Biography for ''Chronicle of the Unsung'' *2013

Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement is a List of New Zealand literary awards, New Zealand literary award established in 2003 by the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand), the national arts development agenc ...

*2015 Michael King Writers Fellowship

References

External links

*
Review
of ''The Resurrection of Philip Clairmont'' and biographical notes 1952 births Living people New Zealand screenwriters New Zealand male screenwriters People from Ohakune New Zealand emigrants to Australia Victoria University of Wellington alumni 21st-century New Zealand writers 20th-century New Zealand writers 20th-century New Zealand male writers People educated at Kuranui College {{NewZealand-writer-stub