Monty Soutar

Soutar in 2016

Monty Glyn Soutar ONZM (born 1961)[1] is a New Zealand historian and author.

Early life and education

Soutar lived in Ruatoria, Kawerau and Palmerston North as a child.[2][3] He then attended Hato Paora College, which he credits for instilling pride in academic achievement and interest in the Maori side of his heritage.[2] Soutar is affiliated with the Māori tribes of Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and Ngāti Kahungunu.

Soutar attended Palmerston North Teachers' College from 1980 to 1983.[1] He holds degrees from Massey University and Victoria University.[1][4][5]

Career

Soutar taught for two years at Manutahi Primary School, followed by two years working through historical records at the Māori Land Court in Gisborne to create a local history resource for schools on the East Coast.[2] He also spent four years in the Territorials and New Zealand Army.[2][3]

He was a senior lecturer in Maori studies at Massey University.[1]

Soutar was appointed to the Waitangi Tribunal in 2002 for a three-year period,[6] and from 2006 to January 2010 was Director of the Tairawhiti Museum in Gisborne. During his time there he negotiated an increase in museum funding and initiated a project which involved upgrading collection documentation and rehousing the museum's collection.[7] He was appointed one of the Guardians of the Alexander Turnbull Library in 2006[8] and was on the National Archives Council.

Since 2011 Soutar has been a Fellow in Maori History at the Ministry of Culture and Heritage. In the 2015 New Year Honours, he was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Māori and historical research.[9] At that time he was also World War One Historian in Residence at Auckland War Memorial Museum.

In 2021 Soutar was awarded the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writer's Fellowship worth $100,000 to enable him to complete a historical novel trilogy.[10] The first novel in the trilogy, Kāwai, was published in 2022, and was the best-selling New Zealand fiction novel of the year.[11] It was shortlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.[12]

Selected bibliography

  • Nga Tamatoa: The Price of Citizenship. C Company 28 (Maori) Battalion 1939–1945. Published 2008.
  • Whitiki! Whiti! Whiti! E! Maori in the First World War.[10] Published 2019.
  • Kāwai – a saga from the uttermost end of the Earth. Published 2022.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Soutar, Monty Glyn (Dr), 1961–". National Library of New Zealand. January 1961. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Husband, Dale (21 April 2019). "Monty Soutar: Making sure our soldiers aren't forgotten". E-Tangata. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b "12 Questions: Dr Monty Soutar". NZ Herald. 25 March 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  4. ^ Soutar, Monty (1991). I te wa i a mea (Masters thesis). Massey Research Online, Massey University. hdl:10179/14315.
  5. ^ Soutar, Monty (2000). Ngāti Porou leadership : Rāpata Wahawaha and the politics of conflict : "Kei te ora nei hoki tātou, me tō tātou whenua" (Doctoral thesis). Massey Research Online, Massey University. hdl:10179/2399.
  6. ^ "Massey Lecturer Has Place on Tribunal". The Evening Standard. Palmerston North. 13 September 2002. 314218047 – via Proquest Australia & New Zealand Newsstream.
  7. ^ Wauchop, Phil (11 November 2009). "Report to COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Committee for noting" (PDF). Gisborne District Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 February 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  8. ^ "New Library Guardians". Waikato Times. 5 September 2006. 313294664 – via Proquest Australia & New Zealand Newsstream.
  9. ^ "New Year Honours 2015 – Citations for Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit". New Year Honours 2015 – Citations for Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Leading historian Dr Monty Soutar receives Creative New Zealand Michael King Writer's Fellowship to complete historical novel trilogy". www.creativenz.govt.nz. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  11. ^ Braunias, Steve (23 December 2022). "Bestselling books of 2022". Newsroom. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  12. ^ "Ockham NZ Book Awards 2023 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 8 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.