Born in Auckland and raised on the city’s North Shore, Duggan was mentored by Frank Sargeson and was friendly with many of the important writers of the day, including Greville Texidor, John Reece Cole, Keith Sinclair and Kendrick Smithyman. He married Barbara Platts, a physiotherapist, in February 1946, and they had one son, Nicholas.
Duggan displayed no interest in literature as a child, but the loss of his left leg in 1940 through acute osteomyelitis generated his desire to write. He later contracted tuberculosis while visiting Spain in late 1952. In 1960 Duggan was the second recipient of the newly established Robert Burns Fellowship (the first was Ian Cross), which provided a writer with a lecturer's salary for one year at Otago University. During his year as Burns Fellow, Duggan worked on his unpublished novel The Burning Miss Bratby, and the short story 'Riley's Handbook.' From 1961 Duggan worked in advertising, eventually becoming a member of the Board of Directors of the firm, J. Inglis Wright. He received the New Zealand Literary Fund Scholarship in 1966 and had a year free from advertising work to concentrate on fiction. A crisis with alcoholism precipitated Duggan's resignation from advertising in late 1972, and after a period of painful but successful recovery he learned in late 1973 that he had contracted cancer.
Duggan was primarily a stylist. His story 'Six Place Names and a Girl,' to which Sargeson contributed the title, was an early success, with its minimal plot and its brief, evocative descriptions of the Hauraki Plains. It was published in Charles Brasch's quarterly, Landfall, in 1949, as was most of Duggan's later fiction. In the early 1960s Duggan published two stories in Landfall, ‘Riley’s Handbook’ and ‘Along Rideout Road that Summer,’ which moved New Zealand literature decisively away from its long-dominant tradition of social realism.
Literary worksedit
Short story collectionsedit
Immanuel's Land (1956) Summer in the Gravel Pit (1965) O'Leary's Orchard (1970) Collected Stories (1981) edited by C.K. Stead
Children’s literatureedit
Falter Tom and the Water Boy (1957) The Fabulous McFanes and Other Children’s Stories (1974)
Poetryedit
A Voice for the Minotaur: Selected Poems (2001)
Unpublished worksedit
The Burning Miss Bratby
Referencesedit
To Bed at Noon: the Life and Art of Maurice Duggan (1997) by Ian Richards
maurice, duggan, maurice, noel, duggan, november, 1922, december, 1974, zealand, writer, short, fiction, contents, life, overview, literary, works, short, story, collections, children, literature, poetry, unpublished, works, references, external, linkslife, ov. Maurice Noel Duggan 25 November 1922 11 December 1974 was a New Zealand writer of short fiction Contents 1 Life overview 2 Literary works 2 1 Short story collections 2 2 Children s literature 2 3 Poetry 2 4 Unpublished works 3 References 4 External linksLife overview editBorn in Auckland and raised on the city s North Shore Duggan was mentored by Frank Sargeson and was friendly with many of the important writers of the day including Greville Texidor John Reece Cole Keith Sinclair and Kendrick Smithyman He married Barbara Platts a physiotherapist in February 1946 and they had one son Nicholas Duggan displayed no interest in literature as a child but the loss of his left leg in 1940 through acute osteomyelitis generated his desire to write He later contracted tuberculosis while visiting Spain in late 1952 In 1960 Duggan was the second recipient of the newly established Robert Burns Fellowship the first was Ian Cross which provided a writer with a lecturer s salary for one year at Otago University During his year as Burns Fellow Duggan worked on his unpublished novel The Burning Miss Bratby and the short story Riley s Handbook From 1961 Duggan worked in advertising eventually becoming a member of the Board of Directors of the firm J Inglis Wright He received the New Zealand Literary Fund Scholarship in 1966 and had a year free from advertising work to concentrate on fiction A crisis with alcoholism precipitated Duggan s resignation from advertising in late 1972 and after a period of painful but successful recovery he learned in late 1973 that he had contracted cancer Duggan was primarily a stylist His story Six Place Names and a Girl to which Sargeson contributed the title was an early success with its minimal plot and its brief evocative descriptions of the Hauraki Plains It was published in Charles Brasch s quarterly Landfall in 1949 as was most of Duggan s later fiction In the early 1960s Duggan published two stories in Landfall Riley s Handbook and Along Rideout Road that Summer which moved New Zealand literature decisively away from its long dominant tradition of social realism Literary works editShort story collections edit Immanuel s Land 1956 Summer in the Gravel Pit 1965 O Leary s Orchard 1970 Collected Stories 1981 edited by C K Stead Children s literature edit Falter Tom and the Water Boy 1957 The Fabulous McFanes and Other Children s Stories 1974 Poetry edit A Voice for the Minotaur Selected Poems 2001 Unpublished works edit The Burning Miss BratbyReferences editTo Bed at Noon the Life and Art of Maurice Duggan 1997 by Ian RichardsExternal links editDuggan Maurice Noel in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography New Zealand Book Council homepage University of Auckland New Zealand Literature File Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Maurice Duggan amp oldid 1192465363, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
