Lawrence Patchett
New Zealand writer and editor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lawrence Patchett is a New Zealand novelist, short story writer, and editor.[1][2] His book of short stories, I Got His Blood on Me, won the Best First Book award at the 2013 New Zealand Post Book Awards.[3] Following this Patchett released his debut novel, The Burning River in 2019.[4][5] Patchett has held several writing residencies in New Zealand,[6][7][8] including the Michael King Emerging Writer's Residency.[9][10][11]
Biography
Lawrence Patchett was born in Canterbury, New Zealand.[12] He is Pākehā with ancestors from Shetland, Ireland and the UK. He studied English at the University of Canterbury and completed a Masters, and then a PhD, in Creative Writing at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, finishing in 2012.[13] He is a member of the Institute of Professional Editors[1] and the New Zealand Society of Authors.[14]
Awards and prizes
- 2013 NZSA Hubert Church Best First Book of Fiction at the New Zealand Book Awards[3]
- 2018 Michael King Emerging Writer's Residency[11]
- 2019 University of Canterbury Ursula Bethell Residency[12]
- NZ Pacific Studio Artist's Residency[8]
Bibliography
- I Got His Blood on Me (Te Herenga Waka University Press, 2012) ISBN 9780864737687
- The Burning River (Te Herenga Waka University Press, 2019) ISBN 9781776562237
Critical reception
I Got His Blood on Me received positive reviews[15][16] and Michael Larson in the New Zealand Herald described it as a "remarkable collection".[17] Reviews of The Burning River at the time of publication were generally favorable,[18][19][20] although one critic's viewpoint was that it did not go far enough to address issues of colonisation in New Zealand.[21]