View source for Maurice Gee

{{Short description|New Zealand novelist (1931–2025)}}
{{distinguish|Maurice Gibb}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox writer
| name             = Maurice Gee
| honorific_suffix = 
| image            = Maurice Gee.jpg
| alt              = 
| caption          = Gee in 2018
| pseudonym        = 
| birth_name       = Maurice Gough Gee
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1931|08|22|df=yes}}
| birth_place      = [[Whakatāne]], New Zealand
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|2025|06|12|1931|08|22|df=yes}}
| death_place      = [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]], New Zealand
| resting_place    = 
| occupation       = Writer
| language         = 
| residence        = 
| education        = 
| alma_mater       = [[University of Auckland]]
| period           = 
| genre            = <!-- or: | genres = -->
| subject          = <!-- or: | subjects = -->
| movement         = 
| notableworks     = {{plainlist}}
* ''[[In My Father's Den]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Plumb (novel series)|Plumb]]'' (1978)
* ''[[Under the Mountain (novel)|Under the Mountain]]'' (1979)
{{endplainlist}}
| spouse           = {{Marriage|Margareta Gee|1970}}
| partner          = <!-- or: | partners = -->
| children         = 3
| relatives        = 
| awards           = 
| signature        = 
| signature_alt    = 
| years_active     = 
| module           = 
| website          = <!-- {{URL|example.org}} -->
}}

'''Maurice Gough Gee''' (22 August 1931 – 12 June 2025) was a New Zealand novelist. He was one of New Zealand's most distinguished and prolific authors, having written over thirty novels for adults and children, and having won numerous awards both in New Zealand and overseas, including multiple top prizes at the [[Ockham New Zealand Book Awards|New Zealand Book Awards]], the [[James Tait Black Memorial Prize]] in the UK, the [[Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship]], the [[Robert Burns Fellowship]] and a [[Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement|Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement]]. In 2003, he was recognised as one of New Zealand's greatest living artists across all disciplines by the [[Arts Foundation of New Zealand]], which presented him with an [[Arts Foundation of New Zealand#Icon Award|Icon Award]]. 

Gee's novel ''[[Plumb (novel series)|Plumb]]'' (1978) was described by the ''Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature'' to be one of the best novels ever written in New Zealand.<ref name="OCNZL"/> He was also well-known for children's and young adult fiction such as ''[[Under the Mountain (novel)|Under the Mountain]]'' (1979). He won multiple top prizes at the [[New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults]] and in 2002 he was presented with the prestigious [[Margaret Mahy Award]] by the Children's Literature Foundation in recognition of his contributions to children's literature.

==Early life and education==
Gee was born in [[Whakatāne]], and brought up in [[Henderson, New Zealand|Henderson]], a suburb of Auckland, a location that frequently features in his writing.<ref name="OCNZL">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Wattie |first=Nelson |editor1-last=Robinson |editor1-first=Roger |editor2-last=Wattie |editor2-first=Nelson |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature |title=Gee, Maurice |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001/acref-9780195583489-e-438 |access-date=21 November 2020 |date=2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-1917-3519-6 |oclc=865265749 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Interview with Maurice Gee |url=https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/new-zealand-childrens-authors/maurice-gee/ |website=[[Christchurch City Libraries]] |access-date=21 November 2020 |date=2002}}</ref><ref name="bkcouncilbio">{{cite web |title=Gee, Maurice |url=https://www.read-nz.org/writer/gee-maurice/ |website=Read NZ Te Pou Muramura |access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref><ref name="Arts Foundation">{{cite web |title=Maurice Gee |url=https://www.thearts.co.nz/artists/maurice-gee |website=The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi |access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref> His mother, Harriet Lyndahl Gee ({{nee|Chapple}}), was a socialist and an aspiring writer who had some of her work published, including a children's picture book called ''Mihi and the Last of the Moas'' (1943),<ref name="Interview Natlib">{{cite web |title=Interview with Maurice Gee |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/35861108 |website=National Library of New Zealand |access-date=2 December 2020 |date=2008}}</ref> and his father, Leonard Gee, was a carpenter. He was the middle child of their three sons.<ref name="Matthews">{{cite news |last1=Matthews |first1=Philip |title=Maurice Gee on his mother's thwarted writing career, his messy adolescence and how he met the love of his life |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/107203619/maurice-gee-on-his-mothers-thwarted-writing-career-his-messy-adolescence-and-how-he-met-the-love-of-his-life |access-date=21 November 2020 |work=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |date=6 October 2018}}</ref> Gee was also the grandson of controversial Presbyterian-turned-Unitarian minister [[James Chapple]], later to be the inspiration for Gee's character George Plumb in his ''Plumb'' trilogy (1978).<ref name="Matthews" /><ref name="Best 50">{{cite news |title=The 50 best New Zealand books of the past 50 years: The official listicle |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/14-05-2018/the-best-50-new-zealand-books-of-the-past-50-years-the-official-listicle/ |access-date=21 November 2020 |work=[[The Spinoff]] |date=14 May 2018}}</ref>

Gee attended [[Henderson, New Zealand#Education|Henderson Primary School]] and [[Avondale College, Auckland|Avondale College]], and completed [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] and [[Masters of Arts|MA]] degrees at the [[University of Auckland]], which subsequently recognised him with a Distinguished Alumni Award in 1998, and an honorary [[Doctor of Letters|Doctorate of Literature]] in 2004.<ref name="UoA">{{cite web|url=http://www.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/for/prospective/learning/alumni/maurice_gee.cfm |title=Famous past students – Maurice Gee |publisher=University of Auckland |access-date=2009-01-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015210743/http://www.auckland.ac.nz/uoa//for/prospective/learning/alumni/maurice_gee.cfm |archive-date=15 October 2008 }}</ref> He also received an honorary Doctorate of Literature from [[Victoria University of Wellington]] in 1987.<ref name="VUW 1989">{{cite book |last1=Gee |first1=Maurice |editor1-last=Robinson |editor1-first=Roger |title=Writing Wellington: Twenty Years of Victoria University Writing Fellows |date=1999 |publisher=Victoria University Press |location=Wellington, NZ |isbn=978-0-8647-3367-2 |page=57 |url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-RobWrit-_N71240.html |access-date=21 November 2020 |chapter=1989 Maurice Gee}}</ref>

==Literary career==
===Early career: 1950 to 1977===
Gee began writing at university, and had short stories published in New Zealand journals ''[[Landfall (journal)|Landfall]]'' and ''Mate''.<ref name="OCNZL"/> After finishing his MA he taught in the secondary department of [[Paeroa#Education|Paeroa District High School]] for about 18 months, starting in February 1955, but resigned in July 1956 to focus on his writing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ohinemuri.org.nz/journals/63-journal-35-september-1991/1290-distinguished-ex-staff-of-paeroa-district-high-school.html|title=Distinguished Ex-Staff of Paeroa District High School – Maurice Gough GEE|language=en|access-date=2019-11-18}}</ref><ref name="Britannica">{{cite web |title=Maurice Gee |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Maurice-Gee |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=13 September 2021}}</ref> In January 1960 and December 1961, he was awarded literary grants by the New Zealand Literary Fund.<ref name="250 pounds">{{cite news |title=Literary Fund Awards |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19600113.2.21 |access-date=22 September 2021 |work=[[The Press]] |date=13 January 1960 |page=4}}</ref><ref name="500 pounds">{{cite news |title=£500 Award to Writer |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19611221.2.176 |access-date=22 September 2021 |work=[[The Press]] |date=21 December 1961 |page=17}}</ref>

His first published novel was ''The Big Season'' (1962),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gee |first1=Maurice |title=The Big Season |date=1962 |publisher=Hutchinson & Co |location=London}}</ref> a novel about a rugby player who becomes interested in a burglar and the burglar's girlfriend. It had themes of violence and tension, and was described by ''[[The New Zealand Herald]]'' as "not always pleasant, but certainly forceful and sincere". Gee himself was a keen rugby player and the games in the novel were inspired by his own experiences.<ref name="OCNZL" /> In 1964, Gee was the sixth recipient of the [[Robert Burns Fellowship]] at the [[University of Otago]], one of New Zealand's most prestigious literary awards.<ref name="Burns">{{cite news |last1=Benson |first1=Nigel |title=Burns Fellows gather at unveiling |url=https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/burns-fellows-gather-unveiling |access-date=21 November 2020 |work=[[Otago Daily Times]] |date=11 October 2008}}</ref> During this fellowship he wrote his second novel, ''A Special Flower'' (1965).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gee |first1=Maurice |title=A Special Flower |date=1965 |publisher=Hutchinson |location=London}}</ref> After the fellowship he trained as a librarian and in the 1960s and 1970s worked at the [[Alexander Turnbull Library]], the [[Napier, New Zealand|Napier]] library and several libraries in Auckland.<ref name="Interview Natlib" />

His third novel, ''[[In My Father's Den]]'', a mystery novel, was published in 1972.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gee |first1=Maurice |title=In My Father's Den |date=1972 |publisher=Faber and Faber |location=London |isbn=978-0-5710-9850-7}}</ref> This novel was later adapted into the critically acclaimed [[In My Father's Den (film)|film of the same name]] by director [[Brad McGann]] in 2004. Gee followed this novel with a collection of short stories, ''A Glorious Morning, Comrade'' (1974),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gee |first1=Maurice |title=A glorious morning, comrade : stories |date=1975 |publisher=Auckland University Press |location=Auckland |isbn=978-0-1964-7938-5}}</ref> which won the prize for fiction at the 1976 [[New Zealand Book Awards]],<ref name="Book Awards">{{cite web |title=Past Winners by Author: G |url=https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/past-winners-by-author?letter=G |website=New Zealand Book Awards |access-date=13 September 2021}}</ref> and a further novel ''Games of Choice'' (1976).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gee |first1=Maurice |title=Games of choice |date=1976 |publisher=Faber & Faber |location=London |isbn=978-0-1955-8024-2}}</ref>

===''Plumb'' and children's fiction: 1978 to 1991===
Gee's novel ''[[Plumb (novel series)|Plumb]]'', published in 1978, is his best-known work for adults, and is considered one of the best novels ever written in New Zealand.<ref name="OCNZL" /> In 2018, fifty New Zealand literary experts voted it to be the best novel of the last fifty years.<ref name="Best 50" /> Gee described it as his "grandfather novel", with the character George Plumb closely based on his mother's father James Chapple, particularly his early life and his trials for [[heresy]] and [[sedition|seditious utterance]].<ref name="Best 50" /><ref name="Johnston" /> It won the [[James Tait Black Memorial Prize]] in the UK,<ref name="Tait">{{cite web |title=Fiction winners – Winners of the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction |url=https://www.ed.ac.uk/events/james-tait-black/winners/fiction |website=University of Edinburgh |access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref> and the top prize for fiction at both the [[Ockham New Zealand Book Awards|Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards]] and the New Zealand Book Awards in 1979.<ref name="Book Awards"/> The novel and its two sequels, ''Meg'' (1981) and ''Sole Survivor'' (1983), explore the impacts of history, politics and religion on one family from the perspectives of different members.<ref name="OCTCLE">{{cite encyclopedia |editor1-last=Stringer |editor1-first=Jenny |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Literature in English |title=Gee, Maurice |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192122711.001.0001/acref-9780192122711-e-102 |access-date=21 November 2020 |date=2005 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-1917-2757-3}}</ref> ''Meg'' won the top prize for fiction at the New Zealand Book Awards in 1982.<ref name="Book Awards"/>

At this time Gee also published his first children's novel, ''[[Under the Mountain (novel)|Under the Mountain]]'' (1979), a science fiction story set in Auckland, New Zealand, about 11-year-old twins who discover aliens under volcanic [[Lake Pupuke]]. It has remained in print since it was published and is considered a New Zealand classic.<ref name="Exploring">{{cite web |title=Exploring Maurice Gee's fiction for young readers |url=https://www.read-nz.org/aotearoa-reads-details/exploring-maurice-gees-fiction-for-young-readers |website=Read NZ Te Pou Muramura |access-date=21 November 2020 |date=3 October 2014}}</ref> It has been adapted into a [[Under the Mountain (TV miniseries)|1981 television miniseries]], a [[Under the Mountain (film)|2009 film]] and a stage show.<ref name="Simei-Barton">{{cite news |last1=Simei-Barton |first1=Paul |title=Review: Kiwi kids sci-fi classic Under the Mountain comes alive in stage |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/review-kiwi-kids-sci-fi-classic-under-the-mountain-comes-alive-in-stage/GKCEDMDF7R2EGYOGOZOEWJYQAI/ |access-date=21 November 2020 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]  |date=11 February 2018}}</ref> In 2004, ''Under the Mountain'' was the recipient of the [[Gaelyn Gordon Award]], awarded annually to a "much-loved" New Zealand children's book that did not win any awards at the time of its publication.<ref name="Gaelyn">{{cite web |title=Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award |url=https://www.storylines.org.nz/Awards/Storylines+Gaelyn+Gordon+Award.html |website=Storylines Children's Literature Charitable Trust of New Zealand |access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref> It was followed by other children's books, including notably the science fiction trilogy beginning with ''The Halfmen of O'' (1982),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gee |first1=Maurice |title=The Halfmen of O |date=1982 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Auckland, N.Z. |isbn=978-0-1955-8081-5}}</ref> which won the [[New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults|AIM Children's Book Awards]] Book of the Year Award in 1983,<ref name="AIM">{{cite web |title=AIM Book of the Year |url=https://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Kids/LiteraryPrizes/Aim/BookoftheYear/ |website=[[Christchurch City Libraries]] |access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref> and ''Motherstone'' (1985), which was awarded the [[Esther Glen Award]] by [[LIANZA]].<ref name="Esther">{{cite web |title=LIANZA Esther Glen Junior Fiction Award |url=https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/esther-glen-award/ |website=[[Christchurch City Libraries]] |access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref>

In order to improve his income, Gee began working in television writing, including writing for 11 episodes of soap opera [[Close to Home (1975 TV series)|''Close to Home'']] and episodes of police drama ''[[Mortimer's Patch]]''.<ref name="Johnston" /><ref name="NZOS">{{cite web |title=Maurice Gee – Writer |url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/maurice-gee/biography |website=[[NZ On Screen]] |access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref> Two of his children's books, ''The Fire-Raiser'' (1986) and ''The Champion'' (1989) originated as television projects.<ref name="NZOS" /> ''The Champion'' was shortlisted for the 1990 Esther Glen Award.<ref name="Esther"/> In 1987, he was recognised by [[Victoria University of Wellington]] with the award of an honorary Doctorate of Literature, and in 1989 he held a Victoria University writing fellowship.<ref name="VUW 1989" /> Around this time he wrote two adult novels set in [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]]: ''Prowlers'' (1987)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gee |first1=Maurice |title=Prowlers |date=1987 |publisher=Faber |location=London |isbn=978-0-5711-4811-0}}</ref> and ''The Burning Boy'' (1990).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gee |first1=Maurice |title=The Burning Boy |date=1990 |publisher=Faber and Faber |location=London |isbn=978-0-5711-4442-6}}</ref> ''The Burning Boy'' was awarded the top prize for fiction at the 1991 New Zealand Book Awards.<ref name="Book Awards"/>

===Later career and legacy: 1992 to 2025===
[[File:Maurice Gee Plaque.jpg|thumb|left|Plaque on chair installed by the [[Maitai River]] in 2011 by the [[New Zealand Society of Authors]] in honour of Gee<ref name="O'Connell">{{cite news |last1=O'Connell |first1=Tim |title=Final chapter complete in author's Riverside chair restoration |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/122220786/final-chapter-complete-in-authors-riverside-chair-restoration |access-date=13 September 2021 |work=Nelson Mail |date=30 July 2020}}</ref>]]
The publication of Gee's tenth novel, ''[[Going West (novel)|Going West]]'' (1992),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gee |first1=Maurice |title=Going West |date=1992 |publisher=Viking |location=Auckland, N.Z. |isbn=978-0-670-84997-0}}</ref> cemented his reputation as one of the best writers in New Zealand.<ref name="Johnston" /> It is the most autobiographical of Gee's fictional novels, and the fictional town of Loomis, in which the novel is set, has many similarities to Henderson, Auckland, where Gee grew up.<ref name="bkcouncilbio" /><ref name="OCNZL"/> The novel was the inspiration for the [[Going West|Going West Books & Writers Festival]], Auckland's first literary festival, which has been held since 1996.<ref>{{cite web |title=History |url=https://www.goingwestfest.co.nz/history |website=Going West Writers' Festival |access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref> It won the top prize for fiction at the 1993 Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards.<ref name="Book Awards"/> In 1993, [[Andro Linklater]], writing in British newspaper ''[[The Sunday Times]]'', said that "Gee deserves to be regarded as one of the finest writers at work, not only in New Zealand ... but in the English speaking world".<ref name="Sharp">{{cite journal |last1=Sharp |first1=Iain |title=Letter from Auckland |journal=New Zealand Review of Books |date=Winter 1993 |issue=9 |url=https://nzbooks.org.nz/1993/non-fiction/letter-from-auckland-iain-sharp-2/ |access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref><ref name="Johnston">{{cite news |last1=Johnston |first1=Andrew |title=Maurice Gee: Our Superb Storyteller |url=http://andrewjohnston.org/gee.htm |access-date=21 November 2020 |work=The Evening Post |date=3 July 1993}}</ref>

Gee was the 1992 recipient of the [[Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship]], a literary fellowship that enables the recipient to work in [[Menton]], France, for part of the year, where [[Katherine Mansfield]] herself lived and worked in the early 20th century.<ref name="bkcouncilbio" /> During his time in Menton, Gee wrote the novel ''Crime Story'',<ref name="Johnston" /> which was published in 1994.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gee |first1=Maurice |title=Crime Story |date=1994 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Auckland, N.Z. |isbn=978-0-1402-3942-3}}</ref> A decade later it was adapted by [[Larry Parr (director)|Larry Parr]] into the 2004 film ''[[Fracture (2004 film)|Fracture]]''. The film was praised by Christchurch newspaper ''[[The Press]]'' as "competent, confident and complex".<ref name="NZOS" />

''The Fat Man'' (1994)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gee |first1=Maurice |title=The Fat Man |date=1994 |publisher=Viking |location=Auckland, N.Z. |isbn=978-0-670-85979-5}}</ref> won the AIM Children's Book of the Year award and the Esther Glen Award.<ref name="AIM" /><ref name="Esther">{{cite web |title=LIANZA Esther Glen Junior Fiction Award |url=https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/esther-glen-award/ |website=[[Christchurch City Libraries]] |access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref> It was controversial for its content and portrayal of violence, with Gee himself describing it as a "psychological thriller for children".<ref name="Holloway">{{cite journal |last1=Holloway |first1=Judith |title=A fat boy, a creek and personal responsibility |journal=NZ Review of Books |date=Spring 1995 |issue=19 |url=https://nzbooks.org.nz/1995/literature/a-fat-boy-a-creek-and-personal-responsibility-judith-holloway/ |access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref> In 1998, he published ''Live Bodies'', a novel for adults that was awarded both the top prize for fiction and the Deutz Medal at the [[Montana New Zealand Book Awards]] that year.<ref name="Book Awards"/> Other notable works in the late 1990s included the children's books ''Orchard Street'' (1998) and ''Hostel Girl'' (1999).<ref name="Book Awards"/> His contributions to New Zealand children's literature were recognised by the Children's Literature Foundation in 2002 which presented him with the prestigious [[Margaret Mahy Award]].<ref name="Book Awards"/><ref name="ChristchurchLibraries">{{cite web |url=http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Kids/LiteraryPrizes/ChildrensLiteratureFoundationNZ/MargaretMahy/ |title=Margaret Mahy Medal Award |year=2012 |publisher=[[Christchurch City Libraries]] |location=Christchurch, New Zealand |access-date=25 July 2012}}</ref><ref name="StorylinesMargaretMahyAward">{{cite web|url=http://www.storylines.org.nz/Awards/Margaret+Mahy+Award.html |title=Margaret Mahy Award |year=2012 |work=Storylines.org.nz |publisher=Storylines Children's Literature Charitable Trust of New Zealand |location=Auckland, New Zealand |access-date=25 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120706024842/http://www.storylines.org.nz/Awards/Margaret%2BMahy%2BAward.html |archive-date=6 July 2012 }}</ref>

In the early 2000s, Gee's novels included ''Ellie and the Shadow Man'' (2001), which was short-listed for the Montana New Zealand Book Awards in 2002, and ''The Scornful Moon'' (2003), which was short-listed for Best Book in the South Pacific & South East Asian Region of the 2004 [[Commonwealth Writers' Prize]] and a runner-up in the fiction category at the 2004 Montana New Zealand Book Awards.<ref name="bkcouncilbio" /> Gee also received two prestigious awards: in 2003 he was named as one of New Zealand's greatest living artists by the [[Arts Foundation of New Zealand]] through the presentation of an [[Arts Foundation of New Zealand#Icon Award|Icon Award]] (recipients being limited to a living circle of 20),<ref name="Arts Foundation" /> and in 2004 he received a {{NZ$}}60,000 [[Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement|Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement]] for fiction.<ref name="PM">{{cite web |url=http://www.creativenz.govt.nz/en/results-of-our-work/award-winners/prime-minister-s-awards-for-literary-achievement |title=Previous winners |publisher=[[Creative New Zealand]] |access-date=24 October 2013}}</ref> His 2005 novel ''Blindsight'' won the Deutz Medal, the top prize for fiction and (jointly) the Readers' Choice Award at the 2006 Montana New Zealand Book Awards.<ref name="Book Awards"/> His 2007 novel ''Salt'' won the award for young adult fiction at the [[New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards]].<ref name="Book Awards"/> ''Salt'' and its sequel, ''Gool'', were both listed as [[Storylines Children's Literature Foundation of New Zealand Notable Books List|Storylines Notable Young Adult Fiction Books]].<ref name="bkcouncilbio" /> The third novel in the trilogy, ''The Limping Man'' (2010), was a finalist in the young adult fiction category at the [[New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults]].<ref name="bkcouncilbio" /> In 2012, he was the inaugural Honoured New Zealand Writer at the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival.<ref>{{cite web |title=2012 Honoured New Zealand Writer: Maurice Gee |url=https://www.writersfestival.co.nz/look-and-listen/videos/Page8/2012-honoured-new-zealand-writer-maurice-gee/ |website=Auckland Writers Festival |access-date=13 September 2021}}</ref>

In 2015, [[Rachel Barrowman]]'s biography of Gee, ''Maurice Gee: Life and Work'', was published by [[Victoria University Press]]. The book was critically well-received, and Gee said Barrowman's research was "thorough, unrelenting, illuminating — illuminating even for me".<ref name="bkcouncilbio" /> Although Gee said in 2012 that he did not expect to write another novel,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stephens |first1=Joy |title=Esteemed writer calls Nelson home |url=http://www.theprow.org.nz/arts/maurice-gee/#.YT7_dJ0zaUk |website=The Prow |access-date=13 September 2021}}</ref> ''The Severed Land'' was published in 2017 and received the top award for young adult fiction at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults in that same year.<ref name="Book Awards"/> 

In 2018, Gee published his memoir ''Memory Pieces''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gee |first1=Maurice |title=Memory Pieces |date=October 2018 |publisher=Victoria University Press |location=Wellington |isbn=978-1-7765-6207-7}}</ref> The memoir is in three parts: the first about his parents' lives, the second about his own childhood and adolescent years, and the third about his wife. He said it was "almost certainly" going to be his last book.<ref name="Gooch">{{cite news |last1=Gooch |first1=Carly |title=Maurice Gee puts personal touch on final piece |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/107764947/maurice-gee-puts-personal-touch-on-final-piece |access-date=21 November 2020 |work=Nelson Mail |date=15 October 2018}}</ref> It was shortlisted for the Royal Society Te Apārangi Award for General Non-Fiction at the 2019 [[Ockham New Zealand Book Awards]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Ockham Shortlist 2019: Memory Pieces by Maurice Gee |url=https://www.anzliterature.com/extract/ockhams-shortlist-2019-memory-pieces-by-maurice-gee/ |website=Academy of New Zealand Literature |access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref>

==Style and themes==
Gee's novels are commonly set in New Zealand, often in fictitious versions of Henderson, where he grew up.<ref name="NZOS" /> His adult novels tend to be realistic portrayals of New Zealand life, often featuring dysfunctional families and relationships, while his children's and young adult novels tend to be fantasies or science fiction.<ref name="NZOS"/><ref name="Britannica"/> Even in his children's novels, his writing often features bleak or tragic moments.<ref name="Hale">{{cite web |last1=Hale |first1=Elizabeth |title=Exploring Maurice Gee's fiction for young readers |url=https://www.read-nz.org/aotearoa-reads-details/exploring-maurice-gees-fiction-for-young-readers |website=Read NZ Te Pou Muramura |access-date=13 September 2021}}</ref> The ''Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature'' (2006) said that each of Gee's novels "bountifully gives us a rich vision of some region and aspect of New Zealand life, and of human life in general ... Yet there is always an awareness of living at the edge of an abyss: one false move and we shall leave this abundance for nothingness."<ref name="OCNZL" />

==Personal life==
Gee had a seven-year relationship with Hera Smith, with whom he had a son, Nigel, in September 1959. They separated in the 1960s.<ref name="Smithies">{{cite news |last1=Smithies |first1=Grant |title=Maurice Gee, master storyteller |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/features/2926645/Maurice-Gee-master-storyteller |access-date=21 November 2020 |work=[[Sunday Star-Times]] |date=4 October 2009}}</ref><ref name="Harbourne">{{cite news |last1=Harbourne |first1=Alice |title=Maurice Gee: Life and Work – review |url=https://www.metromag.co.nz/arts/arts-books/maurice-gee-life-and-work-review |access-date=2 December 2020 |work=Metro NZ |date=8 December 2015}}</ref>

Gee married his wife Margareta in 1970, having met in 1966 at the [[Alexander Turnbull Library]] where she worked.<ref name="Matthews" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Gee, Margareta, 1940– |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22365680 |website=National Library of New Zealand |access-date=2 December 2020}}</ref> They had two adult daughters together, Abigail and [[Emily Gee|Emily]]. Abigail works as an animator,<ref>{{cite web |title=Gee, Abigail, 1972– |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22365682 |website=National Library of New Zealand |access-date=2 December 2020}}</ref> and Emily is a writer who has published fantasy and historical novels.<ref name="Gooch" /> Gee said in 2018 that meeting Margareta changed his life: "I was 38 when we got together and was drifting and wasting my time and only pretending to be a writer. She brought stability of every kind into my life – and as I point out in ''Running on the Stairs'', two novels and a handful of stories before meeting her, more than 30 novels since."<ref name="Matthews" />

{{As of|2020}}, he lived in [[Nelson, New Zealand|Nelson]] with his wife and considered himself to be retired from writing.<ref name="O'Connell">{{cite news |last1=O'Connell |first1=Tim |title=Final chapter complete in author's Riverside chair restoration |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/122220786/final-chapter-complete-in-authors-riverside-chair-restoration |access-date=13 September 2021 |work=Nelson Mail |date=30 July 2020}}</ref>
Gee considered himself an [[Secular humanism|evolutionary humanist]].<ref name="Interview Natlib" /> He was an Honorary Associate of the [[New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists]].<ref>{{cite web |title=NZARH Honorary Associates |url=http://rationalists.nz/about/associates |website=NZ Association of Rationalists and Humanists |access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref>

Gee died in Nelson on 12 June 2025, at the age of 93.<ref>{{cite news|last=Matthews|first=Philip|url=https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/360724081/writer-maurice-gee-has-died|date=15 June 2025 |work=[[The Press]] |title=Writer Maurice Gee has died}}</ref> He supported [[right to die|end of life choice]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360724081/writer-maurice-gee-has-died|title=Writer Maurice Gee has died|publisher=Stuff|first=Philip|last=Matthews|date=15 June 2025}}</ref>

==Awards and honours==
*1960: Literary grant from the New Zealand Literary Fund<ref name="250 pounds"/>
*1961: Scholarship in Letters from the New Zealand Literary Fund<ref name="500 pounds"/>
*1964: [[Robert Burns Fellowship]] at the University of Otago<ref name="Burns"/>
*1978: [[James Tait Black Memorial Prize]] for ''Plumb'' (1978)<ref name="Tait"/>
*1979: 1st Prize for Fiction at the [[Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards]] for ''Plumb'' (1978)<ref name="Book Awards"/>
*1979: Fiction Prize at the [[New Zealand Book Awards]] for ''Plumb'' (1978)<ref name="Book Awards"/>
*1983: [[New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults|AIM Children's Book Awards]] Book of the Year for ''The Halfmen of O'' (1982)<ref name="AIM" />
*1986: [[Esther Glen Award]] for ''Motherstone'' (1985)<ref name="Esther"/>
*1987: Honorary Doctorate of Literature from [[Victoria University of Wellington]]<ref name="VUW 1989"/>
*1989: Victoria University of Wellington Writing Fellowship<ref name="VUW 1989"/>
*1992: [[Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship]]<ref name="bkcouncilbio" />
*1993: 1st Prize for Fiction at the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards for ''Going West'' (1993)<ref name="Book Awards"/>
*1995: Esther Glen Award for ''The Fat Man'' (1995)<ref name="Esther"/>
*1995: AIM Children's Book Awards Book of the Year for ''The Fat Man'' (1995)<ref name="AIM" />
*1998: Deutz Medal for fiction at the [[Ockham New Zealand Book Awards|Montana New Zealand Book Awards]] for ''Live Bodies'' (1998)<ref name="Book Awards"/>
*2002: [[Margaret Mahy Award]] for significant contributions to children's literature<ref name="ChristchurchLibraries"/><ref name="StorylinesMargaretMahyAward"/>
*2003: Named an [[Arts Foundation of New Zealand#Icon Award|Arts Foundation Icon]] in 2003<ref name="Arts Foundation" />
*2004: [[Gaelyn Gordon Award]] for ''Under the Mountain''<ref name="Gaelyn"/>
*2004: $60,000 [[Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement|Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement]] for fiction<ref name="PM"/>
*2004: Honorary Doctorate of Literature from the University of Auckland<ref name="UoA"/>
*2006: Deutz Medal for Fiction at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards for ''Blindsight'' (2005)<ref name="Book Awards"/>
*2008: [[New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults|New Zealand Post Young Adult Fiction Award]] for ''Salt'' (2007)<ref name="Book Awards"/>
*2017: [[New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults]] Copyright Licensing NZ Award for Young Adult Fiction for ''The Severed Land'' (2017)<ref name="Book Awards"/>

==Adaptations==
; '''Feature films'''

* ''[[Fracture (2004 film)|Fracture]]'' (2004) based on ''Crime Story''<ref>{{cite web |title=Fracture |url= http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/fracture-2004 |publisher=[[NZ On Screen]] |access-date=19 June 2025 |archive-date=17 July 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140717084932/http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/fracture-2004|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[In My Father's Den (film)|In My Father's Den]]'' (2004)<ref>{{cite web |title=''In My Father's Den'' |url= http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/in-my-fathers-den-2004/background#critique_0 |access-date=19 June 2025 |publisher=[[NZ On Screen]]}}</ref>
* ''[[Under the Mountain (film)|Under the Mountain]]'' (2009)<ref>{{cite web |title=Under the Mountain |url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/under-the-mountain-2009 |publisher=[[NZ On Screen]] |access-date=19 June 2025}}</ref>

; '''Television'''

* ''[[Under the Mountain (miniseries)|Under the Mountain]]'' (1981) eight-part miniseries<ref>{{cite web |title=Under the Mountain |url= https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/under-the-mountain-1981-series/series/background/maurice-gee |publisher=[[NZ On Screen]] |access-date=19 June 2025}}</ref>

; '''Theatre'''

* ''Under the Mountain'' theatrical play by [[Auckland Theatre Company]]. Playwright [[Pip Hall]], directed by [[Sara Brodie]] (2018)<ref>{{cite web |title=Under the Mountain |url=https://www.atc.co.nz/whats-on/past-seasons/past-2018-season/under-the-mountain |publisher=[[Auckland Theatre Company]] |access-date=19 June 2025}}</ref>

==Bibliography==

===Novels and non-fiction===
{{refbegin|2}}
*''The Big Season''. London: Hutchinson, 1962. London: Arrow, 1964. Wellington: Allen & Unwin, 1985. <ref name="Publications">{{cite web |title=Maurice Gee |url=http://www.nzlf.auckland.ac.nz/author/?a_id=52 |website=New Zealand Literature File |publisher=University of Auckland |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330190529/http://www.nzlf.auckland.ac.nz/author/?a_id=52 |archive-date=30 March 2014}}</ref>
*''A Special Flower''. London: Hutchinson, 1965.
*''[[In My Father's Den]]''. London: Faber, 1972. Auckland: Oxford UP, 1978. {{ISBN|0571098509}}
*''A Glorious Morning, Comrade''. Auckland: Auckland UP and Oxford UP, 1975.
*''Games of Choice''. London: Faber, 1976. Auckland: Oxford UP, 1978.
*''[[Plumb (novel series)|Plumb]]''. London: Faber, 1978. Auckland: Oxford UP, 1979<ref name="Publications" /> (Part 1 of the ''Plumb'' trilogy).
*''[[Under the Mountain (novel)|Under the Mountain]]''. Wellington: Oxford UP, 1979.<ref name="Publications" />
*''The World Around the Corner''.  Wellington: Oxford UP, 1980.
*''Meg''. London: Faber, 1981. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1982. Auckland: Penguin<ref name="Publications" /> (Part 2 of the ''Plumb'' trilogy).
*''The Halfmen of O''. Auckland: Oxford UP, 1982. Harmondsworth: Puffin, 1986.
*''Sole Survivor''. London: Faber, 1983. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1983. Auckland: Penguin, 1983<ref name="Publications" /> (Part 3 of the ''Plumb'' trilogy).
*''The Priests of Ferris.'' Auckland: Oxford UP, 1984.
*''Motherstone''. Auckland: Oxford UP, 1985.
*''The Fire-Raiser''. Auckland: Puffin, 1986.
*''Collected Stories''. Auckland: Penguin, 1986. New York: Penguin, 1987.
*''Prowlers.'' London and Boston: Faber, 1987.
*''The Champion''. Auckland: Puffin, 1989; New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993.
*''The Burning Boy''. London: Faber, 1990, 1992; Auckland: Viking, 1990.
*''Going West''. Auckland: Viking, 1992; London: Faber, 1992; Auckland: Penguin, 2000.
*''Crime Story''.Auckland: Penguin Books, 1994; Auckland: Viking, 1994; London: Faber, 1995.
*''The Fat Man''. Auckland: Viking, 1994; Auckland: Puffin, 2000; Auckland: Puffin, 2008. 
*''Plumb Trilogy''. Auckland: Penguin, 1995 (''Plumb, Meg, & Sole Survivor'').
*''Loving Ways''. Auckland: Penguin, 1996.
*''Live Bodies''. Auckland: Penguin, 1998; London: Faber, 1998; Scheuring: Black Ink, 2002 (German edition).
*''Orchard Street''. Auckland: Viking, 1998.
*''Hostel Girl''. Auckland: Puffin, 1999.
*''Ellie and the Shadow Man''. Auckland: Penguin, 2001.
*''The Scornful Moon''. Auckland: Penguin, 2003.
*''Blindsight''. Auckland: Penguin, 2005.
*''Salt''. Auckland: Puffin, 2007.
*''Gool''. Auckland: Puffin, 2008.
*''Access Road''. Auckland: Penguin, 2009.
*''The Limping Man''. Auckland: Puffin, 2010.
*''The Severed Land''. Auckland: Penguin Random House, 2017.
*''Memory Pieces''. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2018.
{{refend}}

===Short stories: first publication===
{{refbegin|2}}
*"In at the Death", ''Kiwi'' (1955): 21–26.
*"The Widow", [[Landfall (journal)|''Landfall'']] 9 (1955): 196–213. In GMC, CS.<ref name="Publications" />
*"Evening at Home", ''Arena'' 45 (1956): 23–24.
*"The Quarry", ''Arena'' 46 (1957): 6–10, 13.
*"A Sleeping Face", ''Landfall'' 11 (1957): 194–221. In GMC, CS.
*"A Girl in Blue", ''Mate'' 2 (1958): 10–19.
*"While the Flag was Up", ''Arena'' 50 (1958–59): 13–17, 28.
*"The Losers", ''Landfall'' 13 (1959): 120–47. In ''Landfall Country: Work from Landfall, 1947–1961''. Christchurch: Caxton Press, 1962, 24–56. In ''New Zealand Short Stories, Second Series''. Ed. C. K. Stead. London: Oxford UP, 1966, 255–95. In GMC, CS.
*"Facade", ''Mate'' 4 (1960): 26–33.
*"Schooldays", ''Mate'' December 1960: 2–11. In GMC, CS.
*"The Champion", ''Landfall'' 20 (1966): 113–25. In GMC, CS.
*"Down in the World", ''Landfall'' 21 (1967): 296–302. In GMC, CS.
*"A Retired Life", ''Landfall'' 23 (1969): 101–16. In GMC, CS.
{{refend}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Children's literature}}
* [[New Zealand literature]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Maurice Gee}}
*{{IMDb name| 1088298}}
* More information about Maurice Gee's life and works is available at [https://www.read-nz.org/writer/gee-maurice/ Read NZ Te Pou Muramura]
* Academic essay with citations: [https://web.archive.org/web/20071006114747/http://dadashopping.net/work.php?code=dickensian_grotesque Dickensian grotesque in Maurice Gee's "The Fat Man"]
* [https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#details=ecatalogue.41996 Maurice Gee Collection] at the [[National Library of New Zealand|Alexander Turnbull Library]]

{{Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icons}}
{{Robert Burns Fellowship}}
{{Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellows}}
{{Margaret Mahy Award winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gee, Maurice}}
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:2025 deaths]]
[[Category:James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients]]
[[Category:New Zealand humanists]]
[[Category:New Zealand male novelists]]
[[Category:New Zealand crime fiction writers]]
[[Category:New Zealand children's writers]]
[[Category:People from Whakatāne]]
[[Category:University of Auckland alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century New Zealand novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century New Zealand novelists]]
[[Category:People educated at Avondale College]]
[[Category:20th-century New Zealand male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century New Zealand male writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Auckland]]