Des Hunt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Des Hunt | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 December 1941 Palmerston North, New Zealand |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Website | |
| deshunt | |
Des Hunt (born 29 December 1941) is a New Zealand teacher and a writer for children and young adults. Several of his books have been shortlisted for or have won awards, including Cry of the Taniwha which won the Gaelyn Gordon Award for a Much-Loved Book in 2016. He was also the recipient of the prestigious Margaret Mahy Award in 2017. He lives in Matarangi, Coromandel Peninsula.
Des Hunt was born on 29 December 1941 in Palmerston North.[1] As a child, he was fascinated by science which was his "favourite and best" subject at school.[2][3] His favourite childhood book was The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and another influential author in his life was Howard Spring.[4]
He was educated at Terrace End School, Palmerston North Intermediate, Palmerston North Boys' High School, Victoria University of Wellington and Christchurch College of Education.[5]
Hunt was a teacher for over 42 years, beginning at Hawera High School.[6] He taught chemistry, physics, electronics and computing, and also wrote science textbooks.[7]
In 2007, he retired from teaching to devote himself to writing, but remains a frequent visitor to schools to talk about his books[7] and often uses chemical reactions in his presentations as a way of explaining and illustrating the writing process.[8] His love of the natural world is evident in his books which often deal with environmental issues and have strong conservation themes.[6][9]
He is married with two adult children and lives at Matarangi, Coromandel Peninsula.[7][5]
