Michael O'Leary is 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 ...

publisher, poet, novelist, performer, and bookshop proprietor. He publishes under the imprint Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop, which he founded in 1984. He runs a bookshop with Irving Lipshaw, Kakariki Books, from the

Paekakariki railway station Paekakariki railway station in Paekākāriki on the Kāpiti Coast, New Zealand, is an intermediate station on the Kapiti Line for Metlink's electric multiple unit commuter trains from Wellington. Paekākāriki was the terminal station of the com ...

Early life

Born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, he was educated at the Universities of Auckland and

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

. He wrote his master's thesis on the history of small presses in New Zealand. He is the author of ''Alternative Small Press Publishing in New Zealand'' (2007). He completed a PhD in

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on Feminism, feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining Social constructionism, social and cultural constructs of gender; ...

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 ...

on the "Social and Literary Constraints on Women Writers in New Zealand 1945 to 1970".

Writing

O'Leary's novels and poetry explore his

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

(

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori people, Māori iwi and hapū (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the ''Arawa (canoe), Arawa'' migration canoe (''waka''). The tribes are based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plent ...

)–

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

heritage. His latest novel is ''Magic Alex's Revenge'' (2009), the third in 'The Dreamlander Express' trilogy comprising ''Unlevel Crossings'' (2002) and ''Straight'' (1985). His works include ''Surrogate Children'' (poems, 1981), ''Ten Sonnets'' (1985), ''Out of It'' (satirical novel, 1987), ''Before and After'' (1987), ''Livin’ ina Aucklan’'' (1988) and ''The Irish Annals of New Zealand'' (1991).

Publishing

Under the Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop imprint he has published work by a range of writers, both alternative and mainstream, including: Raewyn Alexander, Colin Lloyd Amery, Sandra Bell, John Pule, Greg O'Brien,

David Eggleton David Eggleton (born 1952) is a New Zealand poet, critic and writer. Eggleton has been awarded the Ockham New Zealand Book Award for poetry and in 2019 was appointed New Zealand Poet Laureate, a title he held until 2022. Eggleton's work has ap ...

, Pat Bellaney, Jeanne Bernhardt, Tony Beyer, Ken Bolton, Richard Burns, Karen Peterson Butterworth, Meg Campbell,

Rosalie Carey Rosalie Louise Carey ( Seddon; 18 May 1921 – 29 June 2011) was a New Zealand actor, playwright, director and author who founded the Globe Theatre in Dunedin, the first purpose-built theatre for professional repertory in New Zealand, with the ...

, Frances Cherry, Jill Chan, John Daubé, Rosalind Derby, Robin Fry, Basim Furat, Brian C. Hare, Heather McPherson, Isa Moynihan, Peter Olds, Victor O'Leary, Glynn Parker, Alistair Paterson, Mark Pirie, Vivienne Plumb, Ralph Proops, Gemma Rowsell, Brian E. Turner, Nelson Wattie, Adam Wiedemann and others. In 2009, a book of biography and criticism about Michael O'Leary and his publishing house, edited by Mark Pirie, was published. The book is entitled ''The Earl is in: 25 Years of the Earl of Seacliff: A to Z'' (2009). O'Leary is a trustee for the Poetry Archive of New Zealand Aotearoa, a charitable trust dedicated to archiving, collecting and promoting

New Zealand poetry 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 ...

Music

In 2011, O'Leary collaborated with several musicians to produce an album entitled ''Fences Fall – Songs from the Lyrics of Michael O’Leary.''

References

External links

*
Interview with Michael O'Leary and Claudia Jardine
Saturday Morning,

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classi ...