Elizabeth Knox

Elizabeth Fiona Knox CNZM (born 15 February 1959 in Wellington, New Zealand) is a New Zealand writer. She has authored eleven novels, three autobiographical novellas, and a collection of essays. Her best known works are The Vintner's Luck, which won several awards, has been published in ten languages,[1] and made into a film of the same name by Niki Caro. Knox is also known for a literary fantasy series for teen readers by the name of, The Dreamhunter Duet. Her most recent novels are Mortal Fire, published in 2013, which also won several awards, and Wake.

Elizabeth Knox

CNZM
Elizabeth Knox in October 2012.
Born (1959-02-15) 15 February 1959
Wellington, New Zealand
OccupationWriter
NationalityNew Zealander
Period1987–
Notable worksThe Vintner's Luck
SpouseFergus Barrowman
Children1
Website
www.elizabethknox.com

Background

Elizabeth and her two sisters were born and raised by atheist parents in a household where religion was often debated.[2] They spent their childhood living in various small suburbs of Wellington, including Pomare, Wadestown, Waikanae and Paremata.[1] She later published a trilogy of novels that were influenced by her childhood experiences of living near Wellington.[3]

Knox had always enjoyed inventing stories as a child, but had difficulties with writing because she was slightly dyslexic.[2] When she was eleven she created an oral narrative history with her younger sister Sara and its characters and plot evolved based on their input along with the input of their older sister, Mary, and their friend, Carol.[4] It became an elaborate paracosm with many characters, intricate plot lines, and involvements. When she was sixteen, Knox's father overheard a discussion between her, her sisters, and Carol regarding the consequences of a secret treaty set in their imaginary world and remarked that he hoped they were writing this down.[1] Following this, they all tried "writing stories about, letters between, and poems by their characters"[4] and Knox enjoyed it so much that she decided she would like to be a writer.[5]

Writing career

In 1983, when Knox was 24, she started a degree in English Literature at Victoria University of Wellington. A year later, she started work on After Z-Hour in Bill Manhire's Original Composition course at Victoria.[1] The novel was inspired by a memory she had of when was eleven and fell from a walnut tree on ANZAC Day. While in the hospital she overheard a conversation between an older man and her father about Passchendaele and life on the Salient in 1917.[6] Bill Manhire encouraged her to write her novel, and told her he would be more interested in seeing her complete it, than her degree. After Z-Hour was published in 1987 by Victoria University Press and Knox graduated from Victoria University of Wellington the same year. She was also awarded the ICI Young Writers Bursary award that year.[1]

In 1988 Fergus Barrowman, Nigel Cox, Knox, and Damien Wilkins, with the help of Bill Manhire, Alan Preston and Andrew Mason, co-founded the literary journal Sport.[7] Knox was one of its editors and has been a frequent contributor to the magazine.[3]

She won the Victoria University of Wellington Writing Scholarship in 1997.[3] Her novel The Vintner's Luck was published in 1998. It chronicles the life of a peasant winemaker, Sobran Jodeau, and his relationship with the fallen angel Xas, setting in 1808 Burgundy, France, and spans 55 years. The novel was inspired by what she saw in a feverish dream when she had pneumonia.[8] The Vintner's Luck won Knox widespread critical acclaim and numerous awards and it also raised her profile within New Zealand and beyond.[3]

After The Vintner's Luck Knox published Black Oxen , Billie's Kiss, and Daylight. Between 2005 and 2007 her first young adult series, The Dreamhunter Duet, was published. Described as a "Mansfield-meets-Mahy fantasy" and, once again, Knox was praised for her audacious imagination and ingeniously constructed tales.[9]

In 2009 the film adaptation of The Vintner's Luck directed and co-written by Niki Caro was released. The film was almost universally panned at the 34th Annual Toronto International Film Festival.[10] Knox was disappointed at the direction the movie took as she felt Niki Caro "took out what the book was actually about", referring to the romantic relationship between Sobran and Xas which was a core aspect of the novel.[11] Her sister, Sara Knox, who is gay, was also upset about the film version.[12] Knox's bad experience with the film made her pull out of a potential film contract[2] with NZ filmmaker Jonathan King[13] for her young adult fantasy series, the Dreamhunter Duet.

That same year, Knox published The Angel's Cut, a sequel to The Vintner's Luck. The story follows the tale of Xas after the events of the first book and is set in 1930's Hollywood. And in 2013 published Mortal Fire (another Southland book for young adults) and Wake, her most recent works.

She also published a collection of non-fiction, The Love School: Personal Essays,[14] which in 2009 won a Montana Book Award for Biography.

Knox at the 2014 WORD Christchurch Festival

Publications
  • After Z-Hour (1987)
  • Paremata (1989)
  • Treasure (1992)
  • Pomare (1994)
  • Glamour and the Sea (1996)
  • Tawa (1998)
  • The Vintner's Luck (1998)
  • The High Jump (2000)
  • Black Oxen (2001)
  • Billie's Kiss (2002)
  • Daylight (2003)
  • Dreamhunter (Book 1 of the Dreamhunter Duet) (2005)
  • Dreamquake (Book 2 of the Dreamhunter Duet) (2007)
  • The Love School (essays) (2008)
  • "The Invisible Road" (2008)
  • The Angel's Cut (Sequel to The Vintner's Luck)(2009)
  • Mortal Fire (2013)
  • Wake (2013)
  • The Absolute Book (September 2019)

Honours and awards
  • Treasure short-listed for New Zealand Book Award for Fiction, 1993[15]
  • Writer in Residence at Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington in 1997[16]
  • Recipient of Meridian Energy Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellowship, 1999, to enable an NZ author to work in Menton, France[17]
  • The Vintner′s Luck winner of 1999 Deutz Medal for Fiction[18]
  • The Vintner′s Luck winner of 1999 Reader's Choice Award[18]
  • The Vintner′s Luck winner of 1999 Booksellers' Choice Award[3]
  • The Vintner′s Luck long-listed for 1999 Orange Prize for Fiction[19]
  • Recipient of Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award in 2000[20]
  • The Vintner′s Luck winner of 2001 Tasmania Pacific Region Prize[3]
  • Appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, for services to literature[21]
  • Billie's Kiss runner-up of 2002 Deutz Medal for Fiction[22]
  • Daylight short-listed for Best Book in the South Pacific & South East Asian Region, for 2004 Commonwealth Writers Prize[15]
  • Dreamhunter short-listed for the 2006 Montana New Zealand Book Awards[23]
  • Dreamhunter winner of 2006 Esther Glen Award[24]
  • Dreamhunter chosen as a White Raven by the International Youth Library in 2006[25]
  • Dreamhunter winner of 2007 ALA Best Books For Young Adults award[26]
  • Dreamquake Honor Book of 2008 Michael L. Printz Award[27]
  • Dreamquake winner of 2008 ALA Best Books For Young Adults award[28]
  • The Invisible Road winner of 2009 Best Collected Work, Sir Julius Vogel Award[29]
  • The Love School Personal Essays winner of the biography section of the NZ Book Awards 2009
  • Mortal Fire was a 2013 Booklist Editor’s Choice A Los Angeles Times Best Book Awards Finalist, and won the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards for YA. It was also chosen for a 2014 White Raven Award, from the International Youth Library.
  • Promoted to Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to literature, in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours.[30]

Personal life

Currently Knox lives in Kelburn, Wellington and is married to Fergus Barrowman, a publisher at Victoria University Press. They have a son, Jack Barrowman.[31]

References
  1. "Elizabeth Knox". Macmillan Books. Archived from the original on 8 January 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  2. Noonan, Kathleen (30 October 2009). "Year of hell for writer Elizabeth Knox". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  3. "Elizabeth Knox". The Oxford Companion To New Zealand Literature. Archived from the original on 28 April 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  4. Knox, Elizabeth (1988). "Origins, Authority and Imaginary Games". Sport. Archived from the original on 3 February 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  5. Knox, Elizabeth (2002). "Starling". Sport. Archived from the original on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  6. Knox, Elizabeth (2000). "On Being Picked Up". Sport. Archived from the original on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  7. "About Sport". Sport. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  8. Wichtel, Diana (19 September 2009). "A Pilgrim's Progress". New Zealand Listener. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  9. Gracewood, Jolisa (10 February 2007). "Book of Revelations". New Zealand Listener. Archived from the original on 10 November 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  10. Davison, Isaac (16 September 2009). "Vintner's Luck movie gets critical panning". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
  11. Fitzsimons, Tom (19 October 2009). "Author cried over Vintner's Luck film". The Dominion Post. Archived from the original on 26 May 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  12. Broun, Britton; Chapman, Katie (20 October 2009). "Gay romance gloss-over upsets author's sister". The Dominion Post. Archived from the original on 30 November 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  13. Hunter, Kathy (20 October 2005). "Elizabeth Knox interview". LeafSalon. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  14. The Love School
  15. "Elizabeth Knox". The Oxford Companion To New Zealand Literature. Archived from the original on 28 April 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  16. "Writer in Residence". Victoria University of Wellington. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  17. "Mansfield Prize Fellows". Mansfield Prize. Archived from the original on 6 May 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  18. "New Zealand Book Awards – Winners 1999". Booksellers. Archived from the original on 19 January 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  19. "Orange 1999 Longlist". Orange. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  20. "Laureate Awards". The Arts Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 April 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  21. "Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee honours list 2002". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 3 June 2002. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  22. "New Zealand Book Awards – Winners 2002". Booksellers. Archived from the original on 18 January 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  23. "Montana New Zealand Book Awards". Christchurch City Libraries. Archived from the original on 22 May 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  24. "LIANZA Children's Book Awards". LIANZA. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  25. "White Ravens: 2006". International Children's Digital Library. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  26. "2007 BBYA List with Annotations". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 13 February 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  27. "Michael L. Printz Winners and Honor Books". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  28. "2008 BBYA List with Annotations". American Library Association. Archived from the original on 10 February 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  29. "Sir Julius Vogel Award Results – 2009". Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 14 March 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  30. "Queen's Birthday honours list 2020". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  31. "Elizabeth Knox". Fantastic Fiction. Archived from the original on 9 May 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
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