Ian Middleton

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Ian Middleton
Ian Middleton

Ian Middleton (1928 - October 24, 2007) was a New Zealand novelist who made a made a particular mark [1] with his books set in post-Second World War Japan. Born in New Plymouth, he was the brother of noted New Zealand short story writer O. E. Middleton.

Blind, he said this gave him a "special perspective but 'without limitation'", and has been attributed to the "strong metaphoric colour, sensual - often erotic - quality and lush verbal richness of his writing".[2]

A full list of his publications can be seen at the University of Auckland's NZ Literature file [3]and more biographical information is at the New Zealand Book Council's website.[4]

[edit] Main works:

  • Pet Shop (Waiura: A. Taylor, 1979)
  • Faces of Hachiko (Auckland: Inca Print, 1984)
  • Sunflower: a Novel of Present Day Japan (Auckland: Benton Press, 1986)
  • Mr Ponsonby (Auckland: Lyndon, 1989)
  • Reiko (Wellington: Moana Press, 1990)
  • Harvest (Okato: Puniho Art Press, 1995)
  • I See a Voice (Auckland: Flamingo, 1997)


The 'Japanese trilogy' - Faces of Hachiko, Sunflower and Reiko - describes a personal and complex portrayal of post-war Japan. Pet Shop, a novel on his early upbringing in small-town New Zealand, wartime Auckland and his experiences on a Norwegian tanker, was described by New Zealand writer Kevin Ireland as "an absorbing picture of the repressions that passed for a moral code"[5].

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/middletonian.html|Book Council entry, Middletonian
  2. ^ The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature, edited by Roger Robinson and Nelson Wattie (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998)| Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature
  3. ^ University of Auckland file
  4. ^ | Book Council entry, Middletonian
  5. ^ The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature, edited by Roger Robinson and Nelson Wattie (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998)
Persondata
NAME Middleton, Ian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Author
DATE OF BIRTH 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH New Plymouth, New Zealand
DATE OF DEATH October 24, 2007
PLACE OF DEATH Auckland, New Zealand


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