Maurice Gee 22 August 1931 – 12 June 2025

Maurice Gee was born in Whakatāne in 1931, educated at Auckland's Avondale College and at Auckland University where he earned a Masters degree in English. He worked as a teacher and librarian, before becoming a full-time writer. Gee wrote over 30 books for both children and adults. 

“In his writing Gee showed us, and by us, I am mostly speaking of Pākeha culture, who we were ... they were complex stories with an elegant, unfussy, but rich prose style.” Kate De Goldi

Here are some quotes from various newspapers after his death was announced:

• He wrote about ordinary people and ordinary lives, often with the narrator looking back at events that caused damage and unhappiness.
• Written in 1979, 'Under the Mountain' was probably his best-known children's work, and was later converted into a film and TV series.
• Gee wrote seriously for children: his worldbuilding is vibrant, startling, textured but it is also deeply enmeshed with the realities of oppressive and violent societies. Like the best children’s writers, Gee never underestimated his reader’s capacity to walk with him into these dangers and work out what was going on and what to learn from them.
• Like Margaret Mahy, Gee was one of the greatest writers New Zealand has ever had and he did not withhold that talent from young people. Gee’s body of literature is revelatory in that it expresses a pattern of invention and research across depths and genre, never subjugating one audience for the other, but oscillating between them, using them in different ways. This pattern revealed a great respect for children’s writing, and for children as serious readers, that is not always present in an industry that often sees writing for children as somehow a lesser pursuit.

I was reading our IBBY Australia newsletter and I discovered Maurice Gee died in June. His books had a huge impact on me and I regularly recommended several titles to my students over many decades. I was interested to discover these new covers - my library copies in the 1980s looked very different. 

The World Around the Corner 1980

When Caroline discovers an old pair of spectacles in her father's junk shop she has no idea how important they are. Even when she puts them on and sees things very differently, she doesn't guess that the safety of another world depends on them. In a race against time, Caroline has to tackle the ghastly Grimbles and keep her promise to return the spectacles to their rightful owner.

The Halfmen of O 1986

The first volume of Maurice Gee's acclaimed trilogy wherein Susan and Nick are transported to the terrifying land of O...

'Nick had seen the birthmark on Susan's wrist. It had two parts. Each was shaped like a tear drop, curved like a moon. One was bright red and the other golden brown.'

Susan had always been a bit odd and never really got on with her cousin Nick, but the mark on her wrist draws them together in a frightening adventure. They are summoned to the beautiful land of O in a last-ditch attempt to save the planet from cruel Otis Claw and his followers, the evil Halfmen, who have lost every trace of human goodness and kindness.

There is a scene in this book where the girl is fed by her captors - they cram a plastic-like substance down her throat - even now decades later I can still feel my horror when I read that scene.

The Priests of Ferris 1984 and Motherstone 1985

In the second volume of Maurice Gee’s acclaimed O Trilogy, Susan must stop terrible things being done in her name... Face the High Priest. Face him alone. That was why she was back on O. To end the religion grown up in her name. Susan Ferris and her cousin Nick return to the world of O, which they had saved from the evil Halfmen, only to discover that a hundred years have passed and O is now ruled by cruel and ruthless priests. Susan is inspired by the dreams and prophecies related to her to face the most dreadful dangers and free the inhabitants of O.

In the third novel of Maurice Gee’s acclaimed trilogy, Susan and Nick engage in a last desperate quest for O. 'King,' they said, trying out the word, 'Osro is King. 'Now, stand up,' Osro said. 'Take me to Susan's door. You are my hands and I am your head. Soon O will be ours.' For Susan and Nick the adventure at last seems at an end. They are leaving the magical land of O, the scene of The Halfmen of O and The Priests of Ferris. But even as they prepare to step back to Earth, strange and evil forces reach out to ensnare them. For Susan and for the Motherstone there is one final, frightening task.

The Fat Man 2008

I realise now this is really a YA novel. I did have it in my Primary school library but only recommended it to very mature readers. There are scenes with a bully in this book that haunt me all these years later. I talked about this in relation to another book back in 2010. 

Under the Mountain 1979

Beneath the extinct volcanoes surrounding the city, giant creatures are waking from a spellbound sleep that has lasted thousands of years. Their goal is the destruction of the world. Rachel and Theo Matheson are twins. Apart from having red hair, there is nothing remarkable about them - or so they think. They are horrified to discover that they have a strange and awesome destiny. Only the Matheson twins can save the world from the terror of what is under the mountain.

The twins are suspicious when the neighbours never open their blinds. They hear noises at night so they know someone lives there. The scene where they enter the house and climb down some stairs into the basement still gives me the shivers. 

Awards (select list)

• 1983: AIM Children's Book Awards Book of the Year for The Halfmen of O (1982)
• 1986: Esther Glen Award for Motherstone (1985)
• 1987: Honorary Doctorate of Literature from Victoria University of Wellington
• 1993: 1st Prize for Fiction at the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards for Going West (1993)
• 1995: Esther Glen Award for The Fat Man (1995)
• 1995: AIM Children's Book Awards Book of the Year for The Fat Man (1995)
• 1998: Deutz Medal for fiction at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards for Live Bodies (1998)
• 2002: Margaret Mahy Award for significant contributions to children's literature
• 2004: Gaelyn Gordon Award for Under the Mountain
• 2004: $60,000 Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement for fiction
• 2004: Honorary Doctorate of Literature from the University of Auckland
• 2006: Deutz Medal for Fiction at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards for Blindsight (2005)
• 2008: New Zealand Post Young Adult Fiction Award for Salt (2007)
• 2017: New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults Copyright Licensing NZ Award for Young Adult Fiction for The Severed Land (2017)