Marilyn Duckworth

Marilyn Duckworth OBE (born 10 November 1935 in New Zealand) is a novelist, poet and short story writer. She has published 16 novels, one novella, a collection of short stories and a collection of poetry. She has also written for television and radio.

Early life

Duckworth was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but spent the years between 1939 and 1947 in England. Her father was Cyril John Adcock, her sister is the poet Fleur Adcock. Duckworth’s first novel, A Gap in the Spectrum, was published when she was 23.

Her debut in 1959 puts her in the second generation of New Zealand novelists of the Provincial period.^[1]

Bibliography

• A Gap in the Spectrum (1959)
• The Matchbox House (1960)
• A Barbarous Tongue (1963)
• Over the Fence Is Out (1969).
• Other Lovers' Children: Poems 1958–74 (1975)
• Disorderly Conduct (1984)
• Married Alive (1985)
• Rest for the Wicked (1986)
• Pulling Faces (1987)
• A Message from Harpo (1989)
• Explosions in the Sun (1989), a volume of short stories
• Unlawful Entry (1992)
• Seeing Red (1993)
• Fooling (1994), a novella
• Leather Wings (1995)
• Cherries on a Plate: New Zealand Writers Talk About Their Sisters (1996 ) (editor)
• Studmuffin (1997)
• Camping on the Faultline (2000), a memoir
• Swallowing Diamonds (2003)
• Playing Friends (2007)

Awards and nominations

• New Zealand Literary Fund Award for Achievement for A Barbarous Tongue (1963)
• New Zealand Book Award:Fiction for Disorderly Conduct (1985)
• Wattie Book of the Year Award (shortlisted) for Disorderly Conduct (1985)
• OBE for services to literature (1987)^[2]
• Commonwealth Writers' Prize (shortlisted) for Leather Wings (1996)
• President of Honour of the New Zealand Society of Authors NZSA/PEN NZ (2011-2012)

Fellowships and grants

• Literary Fund Scholarship in Letters (1961 and 1972)
• Katherine Mansfield Fellowship, Menton, France (1980)
• Fulbright Visiting Writer's Fellowship, United States (1987)
• Australia New Zealand Writers' Exchange Fellowship (1989)
• Victoria University of Wellington Writer's Fellowship (1990)
• Arts Council NZ Scholarship in Letters (1993)
• Hawthornden Writing fellowship, Scotland (1994)
• Sargeson Writing Fellowship, Auckland (1995)
• Auckland University Literary Fellowship (1996)
• Ucross Foundation Residency, Wyoming United States (1997)
• Millay Arts Centre Residency, New York State United States (2001)

Plays broadcast on radio

• Feet First (Radio New Zealand) (1981)
• Home to Mother (Radio New Zealand) (1976)
• A Gap in the Spectrum (Radio New Zealand) (1972)
• A Barbarous Tongue (Radio New Zealand) (adaptation of own work for Radio New Zealand) (1973)

Television scripts

• Close to Home scripts; 5 for Television One in 1975–1976.

References

• The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature, edited by Roger Robinson & Nelson Wattie pp. 147–148 (1998, Oxford University Press, Auckland). ISBN 0-19-558348-5
• The Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English, edited by Terry Sturm (1991, 1998; Oxford University Press, Auckland). ISBN 0-19-558211-X
• The New Zealand Book Council
• The New Zealand Literature File

1. Sturm 1998, p. 154.
2. London Gazette (supplement), No. 50950, 12 June 1987. Retrieved 17 January 2013.

External links

• List of New Zealand literary figures
• "Marilyn Duckworth (1990)". NZETC. 2 August 2014.