by Carl Nixon
Evolving from Nixon’s celebrated short story, this powerful novel is much more than an intelligently evoked murder mystery. It’s a book about coming of age and loss of innocence, not just for the characters but for New Zealand, as the country turns upon itself during the 1981 Springbok Tour. It examines how early events can influence the rest of our lives, and probes ideas of community, collective memory and story-telling. Above all, it’s a compelling story, set in a New Zealand we can all recognise.
About the Author
Carl Nixon
Carl Nixon is an award-winning short story writer, novelist and playwright, who is, as The New Zealand Listener declared, ‘stunningly talented’. He has twice won the Sunday Star Times Short Story Competition, and was runner-up for the Bank of New Zealand Katherine Mansfield Short Story Competition in 1999, and won its premier prize in 2007.
His first book, Fish ’n’ Chip Shop Song and other stories went to number one on the New Zealand bestselling fiction list, and was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize Best First Book. Nixon completed his first novel while he was the Ursula Bethell/Creative New Zealand Writer in Residence at Canterbury University in 2006. The resulting novel, Rocking Horse Road, saw him identified as ‘a major talent’ by North & South, and was long-listed for the Dublin IMPAC Awards 2009.
His second novel, Settlers’ Creek, was also long-listed for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, in 2012. His novels have also been published in Germany. His writing for theatre includes The Birthday Boy and The Raft, numerous plays for children, and he has adapted for the stage Lloyd Jones’s novel The Book of Fame and JM Coetzee’s Disgrace. Much of his writing is typified by humour, even in dark situations. The New Zealand Herald has said of him: ‘Nixon still shows what a master craftsman he can be … Exquisite writing.’ In North & South, Warwick Roger said of Rocking Horse Road: ‘Nixon writes beautifully. He gets the style and timbre of teenagers just right … Nixon has fulfilled the promise he showed with last year’s book of short stories, fish’n’chip shop song.’ Owen Marshall wrote of Settlers’ Creek: ‘With no flamboyance, but with talent and a scrupulous art, Carl Nixon establishes himself as one of our best younger writers.’
Copyright
A Random House eBook published by Random House New Zealand 18 Poland Road, Glenfield, Auckland, New Zealand
For more information about our titles go to www.randomhouse.co.nz
A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of New Zealand
Random House New Zealand is part of the Random House Group
New York London Sydney Auckland Delhi Johannesburg
This edition first published 2013
© 2009, 2013 Carl Nixon
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
ISBN 978 1 77553 436 5
This book is copyright. Except for the purposes of fair reviewing no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
