Maurice Noel Duggan (25 November 1922 – 11 December 1974) was a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

writer of short fiction.

Life overview

Born in Auckland and raised on the city's North Shore, Duggan was mentored by

Frank Sargeson Frank Sargeson () (born Norris Frank Davey; 23 March 1903 – 1 March 1982) was a New Zealand short story writer and novelist. Born in Hamilton, Sargeson had a middle-class and puritanical upbringing, and initially worked as a lawyer. After ...

and was friendly with many of the important writers of the day, including

Greville Texidor Margaret Greville Foster (1902 — 20 August 1964), best known by her pen name Greville Texidor, was an English fiction writer, notable for her work written while living in New Zealand from 1940 to 1948. After traveling the world as a performer ...

, John Reece Cole, Keith Sinclair and Kendrick Smithyman. He married Barbara Platts, a physiotherapist, in February 1946, and they had one son, Nicholas. Duggan displayed no interest in literature as a child, but the loss of his left leg in 1940 through acute

osteomyelitis Osteomyelitis (OM) is the infectious inflammation of bone marrow. Symptoms may include pain in a specific bone with overlying redness, fever, and weakness. The feet, spine, and hips are the most commonly involved bones in adults. The cause is ...

generated his desire to write. He later contracted

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

while visiting Spain in late 1952. In 1960 Duggan was the second recipient of the newly established

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 ...

(the first was Ian Cross), which provided a writer with a lecturer's salary for one year at

Otago University The University of Otago () is a public 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 Oceania. The university was created by ...

. During his year as Burns Fellow, Duggan worked on his unpublished novel ''The Burning Miss Bratby'', and the short story 'Riley's Handbook.' From 1961 Duggan worked in advertising, eventually becoming a member of the Board of Directors of the firm, J. Inglis Wright. He received the New Zealand Literary Fund Scholarship in 1966 and had a year free from advertising work to concentrate on fiction. A crisis with

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

precipitated Duggan's resignation from advertising in late 1972, and after a period of painful but successful recovery he learned in late 1973 that he had contracted cancer. Duggan was primarily a stylist. His story 'Six Place Names and a Girl,' to which Sargeson contributed the title, was an early success, with its minimal plot and its brief, evocative descriptions of the Hauraki Plains. It was published in

Charles Brasch Charles Orwell Brasch (27 July 1909 – 20 May 1973) was a New Zealand poet, literary editor and arts patron. He was the founding editor of the literary journal ''Landfall'', and through his 20 years of editing the journal, had a significant i ...

's quarterly,

Landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

, in 1949, as was most of Duggan's later fiction. In the early 1960s Duggan published two stories in Landfall, ‘Riley’s Handbook’ and ‘Along Rideout Road that Summer,’ which moved

New Zealand literature New Zealand literature is literature, both oral and written, produced by the people of New Zealand. It often deals with New Zealand themes, people or places, is written predominantly in New Zealand English, and features Māori culture and the ...

decisively away from its long-dominant tradition of social realism.

Literary works

Short story collections

*''Immanuel's Land'' (1956) *''Summer in the Gravel Pit'' (1965) *''O'Leary's Orchard'' (1970) *''Collected Stories'' (1981) edited by C.K. Stead

Children’s literature

*''Falter Tom and the Water Boy'' (1957) *''The Fabulous McFanes and Other Children’s Stories'' (1974)

Poetry

*''A Voice for the Minotaur: Selected Poems'' (2001)

Unpublished works

*''The Burning Miss Bratby''

Short stories

References

''To Bed at Noon: the Life and Art of Maurice Duggan'' (1997) by Ian Richards

External links

* in the ''

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography The ''Dictionary of New Zealand Biography'' (DNZB) is an encyclopedia or biographical dictionary containing biographies of over 3,000 deceased New Zealanders. It was first published as a series of print volumes from 1990 to 2000, went online ...

''
New Zealand Book Council homepage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duggan, Maurice New Zealand male short story writers 1922 births 1974 deaths