Neville Peat

Neville Peat
MNZM
Peat in 2018
Dunedin City Councillor
In office
2013–2016
Otago Regional Councillor
In office
1998–2007
Personal details
Born
Neville Douglas Peat

(1947-11-29) 29 November 1947 (age 77)
Dunedin, New Zealand
Occupation
  • Author
  • photographer

Neville Douglas Peat MNZM (born 29 November 1947) is a New Zealand author and photographer, based at Broad Bay on the Otago Peninsula. He specialises in topics about natural history, notably that of southern New Zealand and New Zealand's subantarctic islands. He has written over 40 titles since the late 1970s and has been writing full-time since 1986.[1]

Biography

Peat was born in Dunedin on 29 November 1947, the son of Ernie Peat and Jessie Peat (née Ayson).[2] His heritage is Scottish, described as a fifth-generation descendant of Scottish pioneers in Otago.[3]

Peat was an elected member of the Otago Regional Council from 1998 to 2007, and was its deputy chairperson from 2004 to 2007.[4] He stood down in 2007 to take up the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writers' Fellowship, during which he completed a comprehensive book on the Tasman Sea, The Tasman: Biography of an Ocean.[4][5] In 2013, Peat was elected to the Dunedin City Council, and served one term before standing down in 2016.[6][7]

In 2004, Peat was behind moves to create an official flag for Otago. This culminated in a competition run through the auspices of the Otago Daily Times newspaper and Otago Polytechnic School of Art towards the end of that year.[8]

Peat has published over 40 titles including those on regional national history of New Zealand and on national birds such as the kiwi bird and New Zealand falcon.

Honours and awards

In 1994, Peat was named Dunedin Citizen of the Year, because of his books on the region and establishing the Dunedin Environmental Business Network.[4] In 1996, he and co-author Brian Patrick won the Montana New Zealand Book Awards for the book Wild Dunedin.[9] Peat was awarded the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writers' Fellowship, New Zealand's largest literary award, in 2007.[10] In 2016, he received the CLNZ Writers' Award for his project The Invading Sea.[11][12][13]

In the 2018 New Year Honours, Peat was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to conservation.[14] He received the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in 2024.[15]

References

  1. ^ "Neville Peat". New Zealand Book Council. January 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  2. ^ "Births". Otago Daily Times. No. 26632. 1 December 1947. p. 1. Retrieved 2 June 2024 – via PapersPast.
  3. ^ "Neville Peat". Penguin New Zealand. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "The Lark Trilogy by Neville Peat". Penguin NZ. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  5. ^ Fox, Rebecca (18 July 2013). "Peat will stand for council". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  6. ^ "New Year Honours 2018 – citations for Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  7. ^ Loughrey, David (4 October 2016). "Term's almost over for councillors". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  8. ^ Peat, Neville (15 June 2004). "More to an Otago flag than just a design". Otago Daily Times. p. 17.
  9. ^ "Wild Dunedin: The natural history of New Zealand's wildlife capital". University of Otago. August 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Acclaimed author to receive $100,000 Michael King Fellowship". Creative NZ. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  11. ^ "Governance, Policies & Annual Report: 2016 Annual Report". Copyright Licensing New Zealand. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  12. ^ "Writing on Climate-Change leads to $25,000 Award". Scoop culture. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  13. ^ "Neville Peat". Copyright Licensing New Zealand. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  14. ^ "New Year honours list 2018". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  15. ^ Chumko, Andre (13 December 2024). "Literary tōtara honoured in Wellington". www.thepost.co.nz. Retrieved 12 December 2024.


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