Favourite Children's Authors: T. H. White

Sylvia Townsend Warner: T. H. White: A Biography (1967)

The blurb for a recent reprint of Sylvia Townsend Warner's biography of her old friend Tim White claims that:

Warner treats White's repressed sexual predilections with humane understanding in this wise portrait of a tormented literary giant, written by a novelist and a poet.

Certainly he had his oddities - as did Sylvia Townsend Warner, for that matter - but it seems rather an odd way to characterise him: "When did you stop beating your wife?" - or, as in this case, repressing your sexual predilections?

T. H. White: The Master (1957)

I suppose that it highlights a problem with T. H. White's body of work as a whole, though. Just what exactly was he? As a writer, that is. We tend to see him as a children's author nowadays - if we think about him at all.

And, certainly, a couple of his books - The Sword in the Stone (1938) and Mistress Masham's Repose (1946) - have become children's classics. Confining him to that pigeon-hole seems more than a little reductive, however.

T. H. White: Mistress Masham's Repose (1946)

Actually I could easily have listed him under either of the other two categories of writer I've been compiling occasional posts about on this blog: Ghost Story Writers, or SF Luminaries.

The Master (1957) is - more or less - SF; and there are a number of ghost stories included in Earth Stopped (1934) and his other short story collections, some of them ("Soft Voices at Passenham") very good indeed.

T. H. White: The Maharajah and Other Stories (1981)

Perhaps he was primarily a fantasy writer, then? Certainly his most famous book, The Once and Future King (1958) is more fantasy than anything else. It is, in fact, probably the most influential retelling of the Arthurian legend since Tennyson's Idylls of the King - and, like Tennyson, its principal source of both raw material and inspiration is Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur (1485).

T. H. White: The Once and Future King (1958 / 1967)

I remember the blurb on the back of my paperback copy referring to White's tetralogy as "a glorious dream of the Middle Ages as they never were but should have been." That strikes me as a pretty accurate description.

In form, The Once and Future King masquerades as a kind of modern commentary on Malory's translation/adaptation of his original French sources in the 13th-century Vulgate Cycle. But it's that pretence which allows White to soar into complex realms of psychology visible only by implication behind the conventions of late medieval romance.

T. H. White: The Sword in the Stone (1938)

I once examined an Honours essay on The Once and Future King. In pursuit of their thesis, this particular student had examined quite closely the extensive revisions White made in both The Sword in the Stone and The Witch in the Wood in order to fit them into the more ambitious, interlinked structure of the larger collection.

T. H. White: The Witch in the Wood (1939)

I see that I said in my comments:

I’m particularly impressed by the textual comparisons this student has made between the initial and revised versions of the first two volumes of the tetralogy (or set of five books: depending on whether or not one counts the Book of Merlyn). The points he makes about the changes in the 1958 text are worked seamlessly and tellingly into his overall argument.

I recommended the highest possible grade for the essay, perhaps partially because I'd been longing to make that comparison myself ever since I learned that there was an earlier version of "The Queen of Air and Darkness", Part Two of The Once and Future King.

T. H. White: The Goshawk (1951)

To complicate things still further, White's initial successes were in the field of outdoorsy, sporting adventure. England Have My Bones (1936) was his first bestseller. It was followed by Burke's Steerage (1938), and then by his masterpiece in the genre, The Goshawk - the terrifyingly intimate and (at times) shocking account of his largely unavailing attempts to tame a wild raptor.

T. H. White & Brownie

As far as his personal life goes, if White ever had a great love, it was definitely for his Irish setter Brownie. He tried to explain the intensity of his feelings for her in a letter to his friend David "Bunny" Garnett:

It is a queer difference between this kind of thing and getting married ... married people love each other at first (I understand) and it fades by use and custom, but with dogs you love them most at last.

Garnett wasn't having any. A real and lasting relationship with an animal was, to him, absurd. In response he lectured White on the immaturity and childishness of so extravagant an overreaction to the "natural" death of a pet.

Still, the poignancy of White's letter about his beloved dog's death has to be read to be believed:

[November 1944]

Dearest Bunny,

Brownie died today. In all her 14 years of life I have only been away from her at night for 3 times ... but I did go in to Dublin about twice a year to buy books ... and I thought she understood about this. To-day I went at 10, but the bloody devils had managed to kill her somehow when I got back at 7. She was in perfect health. I left her in my bed this morning, as it was an early start. Now I am writing with her dead head in my lap. I will sit up with her tonight, but tomorrow we must bury her. I don’t know what to do after that. I am only sitting up because of that thing about perhaps consciousness persisting a bit. She has been to me more perfect than anything else in all my life, and I have failed her at the end, an 180-1 chance. If it had been any other day I might have known that I had done my best. These fools here did not poison her — I will not believe that. But I could have done more. They kept rubbing her, they say. She looks quite alive. She was wife, mother, mistress & child. Please forgive me for writing this distressing stuff, but it is helping me. Her little tired face cannot be helped. Please do not write to me at all about her, for very long time, but tell me if I ought to buy another bitch or not, as I do not know what to think about anything. I am certain I am not going to kill myself about it, as I thought I might once. However, you will find this all very hysterical, so I may as well stop. I still expect to wake up and find it wasn’t. She was all I had.

love from TIM

Another letter followed hot on its heels:

Dear Bunny,

Please forgive me writing again, but I am so lonely and can’t stop crying and it is the shock. I waked her for two nights and buried her this morning in a turf basket, all my eggs in one basket. Now I am to begin a new life and it is important to begin it right, but I find it difficult to think straight. It is about whether I ought to buy another dog or not ... I might not survive another bereavement like this in 12 years’ time, and dread to put myself in the way of it. If your father & mother & both sons had died at the same moment as Ray, unexpectedly, in your absence, you would know what I am talking about. Unfortunately Brownie was barren, like myself, and as I have rather an overbearing character I had made her live through me, as I lived through her. Brownie was my life and I am lonely for just such another reservoir for my love. But if I did get such reservoir it would die in about 12 years and at present I feel I couldn’t face that. Do people get used to being bereaved? This is my first time. I am feeling very lucky to have a friend like you that I can write to without being thought dotty to go on like that about mere dogs.
They did not poison her. It was one of her little heart attacks and they did not know how to treat it and killed her by the wrong kindnesses.
You must try to understand that I am and will remain entirely without wife or brother or sister or child and that Brownie supplied more than the place of these to me. We loved each other more and more every year.

... All I can do now is to remember her dead as I buried her, the cold grey jowl in the basket, and not as my heart’s blood, which she was for the last eight years of our twelve.

- Quoted from The Futility Closet (17/10/2014)

Angelica Garnett: Deceived with Kindness: A Bloomsbury Childhood (1984)

Knowing what we now do about the perversity of some of David Garnett's own relationships - his curious April-November marriage to his male lover Duncan Grant's young daughter Angelica Bell, for instance - it's hard not to see his indignation at White's confessions as the pot calling the kettle black.

But then, in this as in so many other matters, White seems to have been ahead of his times rather than - as the censorious Garnett implied - behind them. Such intense love for an animal companion: especially, as in this case, a dog who had been by White's side, through thick and thin, for fourteen years, surely no longer requires an apology?

There were, to be sure, other aspects to White's "repressed sexual predilections" - most of them innocuous enough to a modern reader - but for more detail on that I'll refer you to the White / Garnett Letters or, preferably, S. T. Warner's biography.

T. H. White: The Elephant and the Kangaroo (1947)

Mind you, White's generic and stylistic experiments certainly could lead him astray at times. His account of a new great flood, set in Ireland, where he lived during most of World War II, was greatly resented by his local hosts, who felt that it depicted them as ignorant peasants.

White was horrified by this - as he saw it - misreading of a light-hearted fantasy. but the fact remains that he was no longer welcome in this home away from home. The disposition to turn everything you encounter into copy is, I suppose, the writer's curse: but particularly so in White's case, since it took so long for each of his books to accrete.

Maybe he's not a great writer. Maybe he is. It's hard to take much interest in such matters of literary taxonomy. Above all, he was a great original, and each of his books takes a strikingly different approach to the question of how to live on this earth. His inability to fit into any particular category or mold is probably why they remain so lively and intriguing sixty years after his death.

I'm very fond of Sylvia Townsend Warner's writing, too. All things considered, given her own political and social leanings, I'm not sure she was best placed to interpret her friend Tim. She certainly did her best, however - throwing up her hands at times to admit her perplexity - and her biography remains an indispensable adjunct to the body of his work.

All of it, imho, deserves to be read, reread, and treasured.

Sylvia Townsend Warner: T. H. White: A Biography (1967 / 2023)

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T. H. White

Terence Hanbury White
(1906-1964)

Books I own are marked in bold:

Poetry:


1. Loved Helen (1929)
   • Loved Helen and Other Poems. London: Chatto & Windus, 1929.
2. The Green Bay Tree (1929)
3. A Joy Proposed. Ed. Kurth Sprague (1980)
   • A Joy Proposed: Poems. Ed. Kurth Sprague. 1980. London: Secker & Warburg, 1982.

Fiction:


4. [with R. McNair Scott] Dead Mr Nixon (1931)
5. [as James Aston] First Lesson (1932)
6. [as James Aston] They Winter Abroad (1932)
7. Darkness at Pemberley (1932)
8. Farewell Victoria (1933)
   • Farewell Victoria. 1933. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1945.
9. Earth Stopped (1934)
   • Earth Stopped, or Mr. Marx’s Sporting Tour. London: Collins, 1934.
10. Gone to Ground (1935)
11. The Sword in the Stone (1938)
    • The Sword in the Stone. 1938. London: Collins, 1945.
12. The Witch in the Wood (1939)
13. The Ill-Made Knight (1940)
14. Mistress Masham's Repose (1946)
    • Mistress Masham’s Repose. London: Jonathan Cape, 1947.
15. The Elephant and the Kangaroo (1947)
    • The Elephant and the Kangaroo. London: Jonathan Cape, 1948.
16. The Master: An Adventure Story (1957)
    • The Master: An Adventure Story. 1957. A Puffin Book. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1976.
17. The Once and Future King (1958)
    1. The Sword in the Stone (1938)
    2. The Queen of Air and Darkness (1939)
    3. The Ill-Made Knight (1940)
    4. The Candle in the Wind (1958)
    • The Once and Future King. London: Collins, 1958.
    • The Once and Future King. 1958. Fontana Books. London: Collins, 1967.
18. The Book of Merlyn (1977)
    • The Book of Merlyn: The Unpublished Conclusion to the Once and Future King. Prologue by Sylvia Townsend Warner. Illustrations by Trevor Stubley. 1977. London: Fontana / Collins, 1978.
19. The Maharajah and Other Stories: from Earth Stopped (1934) and Gone to Ground (1935). Ed. Kurth Sprague (1981)
    • The Maharajah and Other Stories. Ed. Kurth Sprague. 1981. London: Futura, 1983.
20. The Once and Future King (1996)
    1. The Sword in the Stone (1938)
    2. The Queen of Air and Darkness (1939)
    3. The Ill-Made Knight (1940)
    4. The Candle in the Wind (1958)
    5. The Book of Merlyn (1977)
    • The Once and Future King. 1939, 1940, 1958, 1977. HarperVoyager. London: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996.

Non-fiction:


21. England Have My Bones (1936)
    • England Have My Bones. 1936. St. James’s Library. London: Collins, 1952.
22. Burke's Steerage, or, The Amateur Gentleman’s Introduction to Noble Sports and Pastimes (1938)
23. The Age of Scandal (1950)
    • The Age of Scandal: an Excursion through a Minor Period. 1950. London: Jonathan Cape, 1951.
24. The Goshawk (1951)
    • The Goshawk. 1951. With diagrams from sketches by the author and specially illustrated for RU by Ralph Thompson. London: Readers Union Ltd. / Jonathan Cape, 1953.
    • The Goshawk. 1951. Penguin Modern Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1975.
25. The Scandalmonger (1952)
    • The Scandalmonger. London: Jonathan Cape, 1952.
26. The Book of Beasts (1954)
    • The Bestiary: a Book of Beasts. 1954. New York: Capricorn Books, 1960.
27. The Godstone and the Blackymor (1959)
    • The Godstone and the Blackymor. Illustrated by Edward Ardizzone. 1959. London: The Reprint Society, 1960.
28. America at Last (1965)

Letters:


29. The White / Garnett Letters. Ed. David Garnett (1968)
30. Letters to a Friend: The Correspondence Between T. H. White and L. J. Potts (1984)
    • Letters to a Friend: The Correspondence between T. H. White and L. J. Potts. Ed. François Gallix. Gloucester: Alan Sutton, 1984.

Secondary:


31. Warner, Sylvia Townsend. T. H. White: A Biography. London: Jonathan Cape / Chatto & Windus, 1967.

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Band Docos

Rich Peppiatt, dir.: Kneecap (2024)

Recently Bronwyn and I have been educating ourselves by watching a number of documentaries and docudramas about bands and musicians we didn't know as much about as we thought we should. Not that she isn't far more au fait with such matters than me, I hasten to add.

God knows there's not a lot else to watch on our various streaming sites at present except tormented dramas about world-weary detectives going back to their home towns to dig up the past, or drug-addled fools trying to make their way up the corporate ladder (or High School: the rules seem to be much the same in both places) ... So documentaries of sundry stripes appear to be the order of the day.

Rob Reiner, dir.: This is Spinal Tap (1984)

I suppose the great-grandaddy of all such extravaganzas is the late lamented Rob Reiner's This is Spinal Tap. But given that was originally meant as parody of an already flourishing subgenre, the band autobiography, it's safe to say that there's unlikely ever be a shortage of them.

Michael Wadleigh, dir.: Woodstock (1970)

Let's see, where should one start? I suppose the Woodstock concert movie is as good a place as any. Is there anyone in the world who hasn't seen it? Or, rather, those selected scenes - Jimi Hendrix playing the Star-Spangled Banner, for instance - endlessly replayed in subsequent films.

Charlton Heston is even shown rewatching it for the umpteenth time as the last surviving relic of a lost civilisation at the opening of 1971 disaster flick The Omega Man.

After that the genre gradually began to take shape via movies of Rock Operas such as Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) and The Who's Tommy (1975) until we reach the bloated excess of Led Zeppelin's auto-hagiography The Song Remains the Same:

Peter Clifton & Joe Massot, dir. The Song Remains the Same (1976)

This early phase of development might be said to have culminated in Julien Temple's infamous Sex Pistols mockumentary The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle.

Julien Temple, dir.: The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (1980)

There seems, in retrospect, a certain vigour and innocence about these early attempts to fuse cinema and rock 'n' roll: "Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, / But to be young was very heaven!," as William Wordsworth remarked on a not dissimilar occasion.

That's certainly not the case now. But with increasing sophistication, the form has begun to move in strange directions. For the sake of focus, I've managed to reduce my sampling to 9 recent examples - though one could easily double that without breaking a sweat. Rather than arranging them chronologically, I've listed them more arbitrarily, in alphabetical order of Band names.

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Alison Ellwood, dir. Boy George and Culture Club (2025)

(1) - Boy George and Culture Club


This is in many ways the most carefully curated of these (so-called) "tell-all" documentaries. There's lots of interesting footage of Culture Club's early performances, but the main attraction must be, as usual, the interviews.

These are amusingly juxtaposed to show just how and why Boy George drove his fellow band-members so crazy. His instinctive hogging of the limelight ensured that only he and his close friend, drummer Jon Moss, made it to the recording of the 1984 Band Aid "Do they know it's Christmas?" song. The others weren't even told it was happening.

He went one better in managing to get Culture Club excluded from the 1985 Live Aid concert, which they'd been positively begged to take part in, by his on-again off-again antics with organiser Bob Geldoff. This clearly still rankles with the rest of them forty years on. O'Dowd, as usual, is blandly dismissive.

"Condemned out of your own mouth" is the usual aspiration of such productions. It seldom operates quite so well as here, however.



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Sophie Oliver, dir. Boyzone: No Matter What (2025)

(2) - Boyzone: No Matter What


This one is actually a three-part miniseries rather than a single documentary. I have to say that as it unfolded, particularly when the deep emotions set off by band-member Stephen Gately's death were discussed in detail by the survivors, the true human cost of such enterprises began to become a little clearer.

Ronan Keating had always struck me previously as unusually plastic and bland even for a pop-star, but listening to his unvarnished memories like this allowed me - if not exactly to sympathise, at least to understand him better.

To tell you the truth, I have pretty much zero interest in the whole boy-band phenomenon, but I did find the ins-and-outs of their early history far more engrossing than I'd anticipated. Their original manager Louis Walsh, who - weirdly - agreed to appear on the documentary, came across as the closest thing to a human wolf I've ever seen in the flesh.

When he gets to hell, I can't help feeling that he'll end up bossing round all the other demons within a few days of his arrival ...



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Amy Scott, dir.: Counting Crows: Have You Seen Me Lately? (2025)

(3) - Counting Crows: Have You Seen Me Lately?


There's a scene early in the documentary where the then-still-obscure band Counting Crows has been invited to make an appearance on hit TV show Saturday Night Live. They're asked to sing two songs, their anthemic "Mr Jones", as well as another early release, "Round Here." But, given the exigencies of live TV, the producers want to cut each song by a minute or so. Lead singer Adam Duritz refuses point blank to do this, and it's agreed that both songs will be included in full.

Once they get to the studio, it soon becomes apparent that - surprise! surprise! - due to slight overruns in the show, the songs will indeed have to be cut. Adam isn't having any. They have an agreement, and he demands that they stick to it. He won't appear at all if there's any question of cutting the songs. Eventually the Saturday Day Night Live producers are forced to give in. One of them comments to a mutual friend that they may be a good band, but Adam is an asshole. Counting Crows has never been asked back on the programme.

There is no Counting Crows without Adam Duritz. He dominates the documentary as he clearly continues to dominate his bandmates' lives. He comes across, here at least, as a melancholic, self-pitying, self-obsessed individual, whose wailing voice sounds much the same now as it did thirty years ago, when they first started to make waves. Take it or leave it, that's who he is.

He must have some hidden charm, though, as it would be hard otherwise to account for the succession of A-list stars and other famous beauties who've dated him. For myself, while I do admire some of his songs, and the general style of his lyrics, it's hard to believe that it was all worth it. Somewhat surprisingly, most of the other band members seem to conclude that it was.



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Simon Emmett, dir. Welcome to the Darkness (2023)

(4) - Welcome to the Darkness


It seems a little odd that I can't find any mention of the existence of this documentary on the Wikipedia page devoted to obscure British rock band The Darkness, even though it appeared a couple of years ago and has now even made it to a streaming service near me.

There are whole scenes in it which could be inserted into This is Spinal Tap without any sense of disproportion: turning up at an Irish pub to perform to an audience of roughly a dozen punters; earnest discussions of how long their latest new drummer is likely to last ...

You wonder at times if they're joking, but there's no denying that they, too, had their moment in the sun. Nor, unfortunately, are our ears yet free of their shrieking anthem "I Believe in a Thing Called Love."

I guess I took it against them after watching an earlier documentary about the 2004 "Band Aid 20" rerecording of the anthemic "Do They Know It's Christmas?" song. Justin Hawkins of The Darkness got into an argument with Bono over who should record a particular line. The conceit and arrogance of Hawkins alongside these bona fide giants of Rock 'n' Roll contrasted not only with the latter's comparatively relaxed demeanour, but with everyone else's pretty accurate sense of the durability of The Darkness's "fame."

One does end up feeling a little sorry for them, but not very sorry. They're too ridiculous and repulsive for that. One pities the filmmaker more, but then he did succeed in getting his revenge with the final cut of this horribly funny film.



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Zoe Dobson, dir. Duran Duran: There's Something You Should Know (2018)

(5) - Duran Duran: There's Something You Should Know


Again, I was never a fan, but one has to admit that not only was Duran Duran a considerable hit machine in their heyday, but they're still a pretty good act all these years later.

The funny thing, for us, was how obviously all the others loathed Simon Le Bon, and how oblivious he was to the fact.

It's a good, straightforward examination of the band's history, which has the advantage of not being quite so long as some of the more self-indulgent entries on this list.



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Rich Peppiatt, dir. Kneecap (2024)

(6) - Kneecap


This one is pure pleasure from start to finish. It's a weird combo of The Commitments and Straight Outta Compton, set against the backdrop of post-Troubles Belfast.

The boys play themselves with wit and energy, and their innumerable enemies - not so much the Brits as the more "respectable" arm of the Irish language movement, not to mention the RRAD [Radical Republicans Against Drugs] who try to kneecap them (literally) - are all shown up as hypocrites and fools.

It's hard not to root for a band who so proudly describe themselves as "low-life scum." Long may they prosper - and keep on waving forbidden flags at large English Rock Festivals!



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Leigh Brooks, dir. Hate to Love: Nickelback (2023)

(7) - Hate to Love: Nickelback


If it weren't for the fact that it drags a bit at the end, I'd nominate this documentary for the unintentional humour award. "Welcome to the Darkness" is its only real rival, but - at least on some level - Justin and his Darkness buddies do seem to know that they're absurd.

Not so Nickelback. They still can't work out just why they were the butt of so many jokes - why being a "Nickelback fan" was the ultimate putdown - why no-one respects the long decades they've spent in the studio recording, if not the same song, certainly the same album over and over again.

What tips the balance into the surreal is the visit they pay to their Godforsaken hometown in Canada. They see all their old friends! (None of them have moved away). They're recognised in the street! (By a couple of oldsters from next door). The same plywood houses stand on the same empty streets ... You could probably find the same dopedealer they frequented back in the day, still plying his trade round the same corner.

And yet they are, genuinely, a very successful band. People still come to their concerts. They're all - apparently - very rich. It's understandable that they should feel that they deserve some respect after all these years, but I fear that the curse of Manilow is upon them. Wherever two or more smartarses are gathered together, there shall be jokes about Wayne Newton, Barry Manilow, Metallica and ... Nickelback. World without end. Amen.



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Linus O'Brien: Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror (2025)

(8) - Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror


I suppose, as a fellow Kiwi, I might be a bit prejudiced, but the creation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is surely one of the more significant events in the moral history of man, and its progenitor, Richard O'Brien, albeit a bit sharp-tongued at times, is clearly a genius on a par with Cole Porter or George Gershwin.

Unconvinced? Well, just watch this wonderfully affectionate and informative documentary made by his son Linus, and tell me it's all just a flash in the pan.

Joking apart, I honestly had no idea of the sheer extent of its influence all over the world. The stage show and feature film were just the beginning. It's a fundamentally joyous story, told here with humour and finesse.

Like Nickelback, O'Brien has a truly fearsome hometown too - only this time it's Hamilton, New Zealand!



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Craig Pearce: Pistol (2022)

(9) - Pistol


Here's another drama "based on" the real events, rather than a bona fide documentary. There have many attempts to tell the story of the Sex Pistols, most of them centred on either Macolm McLaren, the band's (alleged) Svengali, or John Lyden (aka Johnny Rotten) their supremely articulate lead singer.

This, by contrast, is based on the autobiography of Steve Jones, the band's lead guitarist. And (it would appear, if you believe his version of events) the leading light of pretty much everything that went down in its heady days of fame.

Alas, I fear that it's mostly of antiquarian interest at this point in time. What interested me most about this TV series, I'm sorry to say, is just how unconvincing Steve's revisionism seemed. The actor cast as Rotten, Anson Boon, was almost as incandescently charismatic as the original, and effortlessly stole every scene he was in.

The more special pleading was heard from the rather averagely talented Steve, the more the accepted story of the band - as delineated so brilliantly in Jon Savage's 1991 masterpiece England's Dreaming - shone through.

Best just to let all those ghosts lie after all these years, I suspect. No-one is ever likely to displace Rotten and Sid Vicious from their rather dismal eminence, however little you may feel the latter (at any rate) deserves it.



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Robert C. Palmer: Dancing in the Street (1995)


The more I think about it, the more examples of band and music documentaries spring to mind. One could probably go on forever. The late, great David Bowie alone has given rise to at least four over the last decade, and there are no doubt others I missed along the way:
• Bowie: The Last Five Years (2017)
• David Bowie: Finding Fame (2019)
• Moonage Daydream (2022)
• Bowie: The Final Act (2025)

His only possible rival in this respect is Robbie Wiliams, with two (plus another one on the way):
• Robbie Williams (2023)
• A Better Man (2024)
• Take That (2026)

And don't even get me started on Beyoncé (Renaissance) and Taylor Swift's (Miss Americana) exploitation of their back catalogues. There's no sign of that fountain drying up anytime soon.

I suppose that it's a little unorthodox to mix in feature films (such as Kneecap) and drama series (such as Pistol) with straightforward documentaries, but I think it's justified if one really wants to appreciate the form.

Is it all worth it? Yes, I think so. I grew up on British TV documentary histories of musical genres: The 10-part Dancing in the Street: A Rock and Roll History (1995-96) was probably the best of them, but it's given rise to many heirs - most recently the excellent Canadian show Hip-Hop Evolution.

And how else am I to repair the ravages of a childhood spent listening almost exclusively to Bach, Handel and Mozart?



Hip-Hop Evolution (2016-20)




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Favourite Children's Authors: Margaret Mahy

Margaret Mahy: The Haunting (1982)

My father had a strong interest in local New Zealand children's books. He collected them assiduously, even investing in such oddball series as the "Dr Duffer" books of ex-NZ Prime Minister Sir John Marshall. He was particularly pleased when Betty Gilderdale's history of NZ "junior fiction" appeared in 1982, and even tried sending her a list of titles she'd overlooked in her survey. I'm not sure if she responded or not. Authors aren't always as receptive as they should be to being corrected.

Betty Gilderdale: A Sea Change: 145 Years of New Zealand Junior Fiction (1982)

I, for my part, was way too toplofty back then to bother much with such matters. There were definite exceptions, though. I did follow up on my father's recommendation of Maurice Gee's 1979 children's book Under the Mountain, which I greatly enjoyed. I think I preferred Gee's Halfmen of O trilogy (1982-85), though. It still seems to me a major contribution to the genre.

More to the point, my father also bought a copy of Margaret Mahy's Carnegie Medal-winning YA novel The Haunting when it first came out, and I duly read that as well.

Kathryn Lynskey: Margaret Mahy (2011)

Margaret Mahy never came to our school, or a library near me, so I never got to see her in her rainbow-coloured wig. It's just as well, because I fear it might have put me off. As it was, my only sense of her was what was on the page. I really responded to the sense of supernatural darkness behind The Haunting. In fact, my only criticism was that it was far too short!

Margaret Mahy: The Changeover (1984)

She made up for that in her next novel, though. The Changeover remains one of my favourites among all her books. It didn't surprise me that it, too, won the Carnegie Medal, as it was manifestly better and more powerful than its predecessor.

Yvonne Mackay, dir.: The Haunting of Barney Palmer (1987)

Both books have been filmed. The Haunting for New Zealand TV in 1987; The Changeover more recently, in 2017. Both were a little disappointing. The first because of a limited budget and uninspired direction. The second is a more complex case. Despite a strong cast and good auspices, it somehow managed to fumble the charm and originality of the novel - perhaps because so many films and TV series have plundered not dissimilar territory in the forty years since the first appearance of Mahy's book.

Margaret Mahy: The Changeover (2017)

You'll gather from the bibliography at the foot of this post that YA novels were not the major component in Mahy's output. Her kids' picture books remain her principal claim to fame. She wrote an immense number of them, and they formed an important part of the upbringing of many, many children, both here and abroad.

Oddly enough, we weren't among them. We read a lot of such books as children - Richard Scarry and Maurice Sendak were among my particular favourites, as I recall. But somehow Margaret Mahy's books just passed us by. For me she's a YA Fantasy / SF author to be ranked alongside Maurice Gee and Elizabeth Knox here in New Zealand; and, internationally, with such writers as Joan Aiken, Susan Cooper, and Peter Dickinson - perhaps even Ursula Le Guin.

Margaret Mahy: The Tricksters (1986)

Her next major novel, The Tricksters, is in many ways her masterpiece. No-one's yet ventured to try and film it, and (speaking personally) I hope they never do. It's a multi-layered novel about the nature of human nature - if that phrase makes sense to you.

On the one hand it's a classic Kiwi yarn, set at a beachhouse, with something of the atmosphere of Mansfield's "At the Bay." On the other hand it's a supernatural ghost story, with talismans, split personalities, and constant, complex interplay between the two.

It's hard to describe - but not to appreciate. It might perhaps be a little too strong meat for some children: better just to think of it as one of New Zealand's greatest pieces of speculative fiction, fit for readers of any age.

Margaret Mahy: The Catalogue of the Universe (1985)

Not that there's anything wrong with its predecessor, The Catalogue of the Universe. Despite the SF-sounding title, it's actually a very moving bildungsroman about the ordinary perils of growing up. Mahy shows she's every bit as adept at conveying the pressures of everyday life as she is at grappling with revenants and other ghostly phenomena.

And so it went on. For the next quarter century or so, every few years another thoughtful, well-written YA novel would appear among the blizzard of picture books and personal appearances that dominated Mahy's public life. I make the total 16: 15 of which I own. Precise questions of definition make it difficult to establish just which titles can be said to belong to this category, however. There are certainly other books I could have included (and have duly listed in the bibliography below).

Here's my own attempt at a list:

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1. The Haunting (1982)

2. The Changeover: a Supernatural Romance (1984)

3. The Catalogue of the Universe (1985)

4. Aliens in the Family (1985)

5. The Tricksters (1986)

6. Memory (1987)

7. Dangerous Spaces (1991)

8. Underrunners (1992)

9. The Other Side of Silence (1995)

10. 24 hours (2000)

11. The Riddle of the Frozen Phantom (2001)

12. Alchemy (2002)

13. Maddigan's Fantasia (2005)

14. Kaitangata Twitch (2005)

15. Portable Ghosts (2006)

16. The Magician of Hoad (2008)

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Inevitably, some of them appealed to me more than others. What's really astonishing, though, is the extent to which she avoided sticking to a formula. Granted, most of the books have a central adolescent heroine, but otherwise what really distinguishes them is their immense inventiveness and the boldness with which she sought out new themes.

Dementia, homelessness, abuse and neglect of various kinds stand shoulder to shoulder throughout with the other haunted and abandoned rubble of the New Zealand past.

Margaret Mahy: Maddigan's Quest (2005)

The success of the novel Maddigan's Fantasia - and its TV spinoff Maddigan's Quest - promised for a moment to propel her into the world of such mega-bestsellers as the "Twilight" or "Hunger Games" books. But her next substantive novel, Kaitangata Twitch, returned to the - slightly disguised - Canterbury which was her favourite setting.

While probably a better book (not to mention a better TV series) than Maddigan's Quest, it lacked the immediate international appeal. In the end, quirkiness and close attention to her own location in space and time - the twin strengths of her work all along - prevailed. Margaret Mahy remains a resolutely New Zealand writer, despite her undoubted success abroad.

In any case, for those of you who've never read them - or who read them at school and have largely forgotten them - I think that this set of books is well worth visiting. In fact, as fashions come and go in the intensely competitive field of children's picture books, I can't help feeling that it's this extraordinary series of well-written, approachable YA novels which will prove her most durable legacy.

I suppose, in the end, only time will tell.

Kaitangata Twitch (2010)

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Christchurch City Libraries: Margaret Mahy (1936-2012)

Margaret Mahy
(1936-2012)

Novels:

The Pirate Uncle (1977)



1. The Pirate Uncle. Illustrated by Mary Dinsdale (1977)
2. The Haunting (1982)
   • The Haunting. London: J. M. Dent, 1982.
3. The Changeover: a Supernatural Romance (1984)
   • The Changeover: A Supernatural Romance. Auckland: Waiatarua Publishing Co., 1984.
4. The Catalogue of the Universe (1985)
   • The Catalogue of the Universe. London & Melbourne: J. M. Dent, 1985.
5. Aliens in the Family (1985)
   • Aliens in the Family. 1985. Auckland: Ashton Scholastic, 1990.
6. The Tricksters (1986)
   • The Tricksters. London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1986.
   • The Tricksters. 1986. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1988.
7. Memory (1987)
   • Memory. 1987. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1989.
8. Dangerous Spaces (1991)
   • Dangerous Spaces. 1991. Harmondsworth: Puffin, 1992.
9. Underrunners (1992)
   • Underrunners. London: Hamish Hamilton Ltd., 1992.
   • Underrunners. 1992. Harmondsworth: Puffin, 1994.
10. The Other Side of Silence (1995)
    • The Other Side of Silence. 1995. Harmondsworth: Puffin, 1997.
11. 24 hours. Illustrated by Margaret K. McElderry (2000)
    • Twenty-Four Hours. London: Collins, 2000.
12. The Riddle of the Frozen Phantom. Illustrated by Chris Mould (2001)
    • The Riddle of the Frozen Phantom. London: Collins, 2001.
13. Alchemy (2002)
    • Alchemy. London: CollinsFlamingo, 2002.
14. Maddigan's Fantasia [aka "Maddigan's Quest"] (2005)
    • Maddigan’s Quest. 2005. Auckland: HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited, 2006.
15. Kaitangata Twitch (2005)
    • Kaitangata Twitch. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2005.
16. Portable Ghosts (2006)
17. The Magician of Hoad (2008)
    • The Magician of Hoad. Auckland: HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited, 2008.

Picture Books:

A Lion in the Meadow (1969)



18. The Wind Beneath the Stars [School Journal, 3: 3]. Illustrated by Jill McDonald (1966)
19. A Lion in the Meadow. Illustrated by Jenny Williams (1969)
    • A Lion in the Meadow. Rev. ed. Illustrated by Jenny Williams (1986)
20. The Dragon of an Ordinary Family. Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (1969)
    • The Dragon of an Ordinary Family. Rev. ed. Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (1991)
21. Pillycock's Shop. Illustrated by Carol Barker (1969)
22. The Procession. Illustrated by Charles Mozley (1969)
23. Mrs Discombobulous. Illustrated by Jan Brychta (1969)
24. The Little Witch. Illustrated by Charles Mozley (1970)
25. Sailor Jack and the 20 Orphans. Illustrated by Robert Bartelt (1970)
26. The Princess and the Clown. Illustrated by Carol Barker (1971)
27. The Boy with Two Shadows. Illustrated by Jenny Williams (1971)
    • The Boy with Two Shadows. Rev. ed. Illustrated by Jenny Williams (1987)
28. Seventeen Kings and 42 Elephants. Illustrated by Charles Mozley (1972)
    • 17 Kings and 42 Elephants. Rev. ed. Illustrated by Patricia MacCarthy (1987)
29. The Man Whose Mother was a Pirate. Illustrated by Brian Froud (1972)
    • The Man Whose Mother Was a Pirate. Rev. ed. Illustrated by Margaret Chamberlain (1985)
30. The First Margaret Mahy Story Book [aka "Wonderful Me!" (2000)]. Illustrated by Shirley Hughes (1972)
31. The Railway Engine and the Hairy Brigands. Illustrated by Brian Froud (1973)
32. The Second Margaret Mahy Story Book [aka "Wait for Me!", 2003]. Illustrated by Shirley Hughes (1973)
33. The Bus Under the Leaves. Illustrated by Margery Gill (1974)
34. Clancy's Cabin. Illustrated by Trevor Stubley (1974)
35. Rooms for Rent [aka "Rooms to Let"]. Illustrated by Jenny Williams (1974)
36. The Rare Spotted Birthday Party. Illustrated by Belinda Lyon (1974)
37. The Witch in the Cherry Tree. Illustrated by Jenny Williams (1974)
38. Stepmother. Illustrated by Terry Burton (1974)
39. Ultra-violet Catastrophe or, The Unexpected Walk with Great-Uncle Magnus Pringle. Illustrated by Brian Froud (1975)
40. Leaf Magic. Illustrated by Jenny Williams (1975)
41. The Third Margaret Mahy Story Book [aka 'Watch Me!', 2004]. Illustrated by Shirley Hughes (1975)
42. The Great Millionaire Kidnap. Illustrated by Jan Brychta (1975)
43. The Boy Who Was Followed Home. Illustrated by Steven Kellogg (1975)
44. New Zealand: Yesterday and Today. Illustrated by Franklin Watts (1975)
45. The Wind Between the Stars. Illustrated by Brian Froud (1976)
46. David's Witch Doctor. Illustrated by Jim Russell (1976)
47. A Lion in the Meadow and Five Other Favourites. Illustrated by Jenny Williams, Robert Bartelt, Jan Brychta, Charles Mozley, Brian Froud & Molly Lovejoy (1976)
    • The Little Witch and Five Other Favourites. Illustrated by Jenny Williams et al. (1987)
48. Look under 'V'. Illustrated by Deirdre Gardiner (1977)
49. The Great Piratical Rumbustification & The Librarian and the Robbers. Illustrated by Quentin Blake (1978)
50. Dry Days for Climbing George. Illustrated by Judith Trevalyn (1978)
51. Nonstop Nonsense. Illustrated by Quentin Blake (1979)
52. Raging Robots and Unruly Uncles. Illustrated by Peter Stevenson (1981)
53. The Chewing-gum Rescue and Other Stories. Illustrated by Jan Ormerod (1982)
54. Brrm Brrm!. Illustrated by Bob Kirk (1982)
55. The Crocodile's Christmas Jandals. Illustrated by Deirdre Gardiner (1982)
56. [with Joy Cowley & June Melser] Roly-Poly. Illustrated by Deirdre Gardiner (1982)
57. [with Joy Cowley & June Melser] Cooking Pot. Illustrated by Deirdre Gardiner (1982)
58. [with Joy Cowley & June Melser] Fast and Funny. Illustrated by Lynette Vondrusha (1982)
59. [with Joy Cowley & June Melser] Sing to the Moon. Illustrated by Isabel Lowe (1982)
60. [with Joy Cowley & June Melser] Tiddalik. Illustrated by Philip Webb (1982)
61. The Pirates' Mixed-up Voyage: Dark Doings in the Thousand Islands. Illustrated by Margaret Chamberlain (1983)
62. A Crocodile in the Library. Illustrated by Deirdre Gardiner (1982)
63. Mrs Bubble's Baby. Illustrated by Diane Perham (1982)
64. The Bubbling Crocodile. Illustrated by Deirdre Gardiner (1982)
65. Shopping with a Crocodile. Illustrated by Deirdre Gardiner (1982)
66. The Birthday Burglar & A Very Wicked Headmistress. Illustrated by Margaret Chamberlain (1984)
67. Leaf Magic and Five Other Favourites. Illustrated by Margaret Chamberlain (1984)
68. Fantail, Fantail. Illustrated by Bruce Phillips (1984)
69. Going to the Beach. Illustrated by Dick Frizzell (1984)
70. The Great Grumbler and the Wonder Tree. Illustrated by Diane Perham (1984)
71. The Dragon's Birthday. Illustrated by Philip Webb (1984)
72. The Spider in the Shower. Illustrated by Rodney McRae (1984)
73. Ups and Downs and Other Stories. Illustrated by Philip Webb (1984)
74. Wibble Wobble and Other Stories (1984)
75. Jam: A True Story. Illustrated by Helen Craig (1985)
76. Horrakopotchin. Illustrated by Fiona Kelly (1985)
77. The Adventures of a Kite. Illustrated by David Cowe (1985)
78. The Cake. Illustrated by David Cowe (1985)
79. The Catten. Illustrated by Jo Davies (1985)
80. Clever Hamburger. Illustrated by Rodney McRae (1985)
81. A Very Happy Birthday. Illustrated by Elizabeth Fuller (1985)
82. The Earthquake. Illustrated by Dianne Perham (1985)
83. Sophie's Singing Mother. Illustrated by Jo Davies (1985)
84. Out in the Big Wild World. Illustrated by Rodney McRae (1985)
85. Rain. Illustrated by Elizabeth Fuller (1985)
86. My Wonderful Aunt. 4 vols. Illustrated by Deirdre Gardiner (1986)
87. The Downhill Crocodile Whizz and Other Stories. Illustrated by Ian Newsham (1986)
88. Mahy Magic: A Collection of the Most Magical Stories from the Margaret Mahy Story Books [aka "The Boy Who Bounced and Other Magic Tales"]. Illustrated by Shirley Hughes (1986)
89. Arguments. Illustrated by Kevin Hawley (1986)
90. Beautiful Pig (1986)
91. The Fight on the Hill. Illustrated by Jan va der Voo (1986)
92. An Elephant in the House. Illustrated by Elizabeth Fuller (1986)
93. Jacko, the Junk Shop Man. Illustrated by Jo Davies (1986)
94. The Long Grass of Tumbledown Road. Illustrated by Elizabeth Fuller (1986)
95. The Mouse Wedding. Illustrated by Elizabeth Fuller (1986)
96. Mr Rooster's Dilemma [aka "How Mr Rooster Didn't Get Married"]. Illustrated by Elizabeth Fuller (1986)
97. The Robber Pig and Green Eggs. Illustrated by Rodney McRae (1986)
98. The Robber Pig and the Ginger Beer. Illustrated by Rodney McRae (1986)
99. Squeak in the Gate. Illustrated by Jo Davies (1986)
100. Tinny Tiny Tinker. Illustrated by David Cowe (1986)
101. Baby's Breakfast. Illustrated by Madeline Beasley (1986)
102. Feeling Funny. Illustrated by Rodney McRae (1986)
103. The Garden Party. Illustrated by Rodney McRae (1986)
104. Mr Rumfit. Illustrated by Nick Price (1986)
105. Muppy's Ball. Illustrated by Jan van der Voo (1986)
106. The New House Villain. Illustrated by Elizabeth Fuller (1986)
107. A Pet to the Vet. Illustrated by Philip Webb (1986)
108. The Pop Group. Illustrated by Madeline Beasley (1986)
109. The Man Who Enjoyed Grumbling. Illustrated by Wendy Hodder (1986)
110. Tai Taylor is Born. Illustrated by Nick Price (1986)
111. Tai Taylor Goes to School. Illustrated by Nick Price (1986)
112. Tai Taylor and His Education. Illustrated by Nick Price (1986)
113. Tai Taylor and the Sweet Annie. Illustrated by Nick Price (1986)
114. The Terrible Topsy-Turvey, Tissy-Tossy Tangle. Illustrated by Vickie Smillie-McItoull (1986)
115. The Tree Doctor. Illustrated by Wendy Hodder (1986)
116. Trouble on the Bus. Illustrated by Wendy Hodder (1986)
117. The Trouble with Heathrow. Illustrated by Rodney McRae (1986)
118. The Funny Funny Clown Face. Illustrated by Miranda Whitford (1986)
119. [with others] The Three Wishes. Illustrated by Rodney McRae et al. (1986)
120. The Horrible Story and Others [aka "Chocolate Porridge and Other Stories", 1989]. Illustrated by Shirley Hughes (1987)
121. The Haunting of Miss Cardamom. Illustrated by Korky Paul (1987)
122. Guinea Pig Grass. Illustrated by Kelvin Hawley (1987)
123. Iris La Bonga and the Helpful Taxi Driver. Illustrated by Vickie Smillie-McItoull (1987)
124. The Man Who Walked on His Hands. Illustrated by Martin Bailey (1987)
125. No Dinner for Sally. Illustrated by John Tarlton (1987)
126. The Mad Puppet. Illustrated by Jon Davis (1987)
127. The Girl Who Washed in Moonlight. Illustrated by Robyn Belton (1987)
128. The King's Jokes. Illustrated by Val Biro (1987)
129. The Door in the Air and Other Stories. Illustrated by Diana Catchpole (1988)
     • The Door in the Air and Other Stories. Illustrated by Diana Catchpole. 1988. Harmondsworth: Puffin, 1990.
130. When the King Rides By. Illustrated by Bettina Ogden (1988)
131. The Baby-sitter. Illustrated by Bryan Pollard (1988)
132. As Luck Would Have It. Illustrated by Deirdre Gardiner (1988)
133. A Not-so-quiet Evening. Illustrated by Glenda Jones (1988)
134. Sarah, the Bear and the Kangaroo. Illustrated by Elizabeth Fuller (1988)
135. The Blood-and-thunder Adventure on Hurricane Peak. Illustrated by Wendy Smith (1989)
136. The Great White Man-Eating Shark: A Cautionary Tale. Illustrated by Jonathan Allen (1989)
137. The Tin Can Band and Other Poems. Illustrated by Honey de Lacey (1989)
138. Trouble in the Supermarket. Illustrated by Trish Hill (1989)
139. The Seven Chinese Brothers. Illustrated by Jean and Mou-sien Tseng (1990)
140. Making friends. Illustrated by Wendy Smith (1990)
141. The Pumpkin Man and the Crafty Creeper. Illustrated by Helen Craig (1990)
142. Crocodile Crocodlie. Illustrated by Celia Canning (1991)
143. The Litte Round Husband. Illustrated by Val Biro (1991)
144. White Elephants. Illustrated by John Bendell-Brunello (1991)
145. The Solar System [aka "What is the Solar System", 1999]. Illustrated by Jeff Fowler (1991)
146. Bubble Trouble and Other Poems and Stories. Illustrated by Tony Ross (1991)
147. Keeping House. Illustrated by Wendy Smith (1991)
148. The Queen's Goat. Illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark (1991)
149. The Dentist's Promise. Illustrated by Wendy Smith (1991)
150. A Tall Story and Other Tales. Illustrated by Jan Nesbitt (1991)
151. Giant Soup (1991)
152. The Horrendous Hullabaloo. Illustrated by Patricia MacCarthy (1992)
153. The Girl With the Green Ear: Stories about Magic in Nature. Illustrated by Shirley Hughes (1992)
154. The Fiddle and the Gun: A Margaret Mahy Collection. Illustrated by Elizabeth Fuller et al. (1992)
155. [with Jean Fritz, Katherine Paterson and others] The World in Fourteen Ninety-Two. Illustrated by Stefano Vitale (1992)
156. Cousins Quarter series. Illustrated by John Farman:
     1. The Good Fortunes Gang (1993)
     2. A Fortunate Name (1993)
     3. A Fortune Branches Out (1994)
     4. Tangled Fortunes (1994)
157. The Three-legged Cat. Illustrated by Jonathan Allen (1993)
158. A Busy Day for a Good Grandmother. Illustrated by Margaret Chamberlain (1993)
159. Tick Tock Tales: Stories to Read Around the Clock. Illustrated by Wendy Smith (1993)
160. The Greatest Show Off Earth. Illustrated by Wendy Smith (1994)
161. The Rattlebang Picnic. Illustrated by Steven Kellogg (1994)
162. The Christmas Tree Tangle. Illustrated by Anthony Kerins (1994)
163. The Dragon's Telephone. Illustrated by Christine Ross (1994)
164. Shock Forest and Other Stories. White Wolves Series (1994)
165. Mr Mossop's Table. Various illustrators (1994)
166. The Big Black Bulging Bump. Illustrated by Robert Staermose (1995)
167. Tingleberries, Tuckertubs and Telephones: a Tale of Love and Ice-cream. Illustrated by Robert Staermose (1995)
168. Cobwebs, Elephants and Stars. Illustrated by Val Biro (1995)
169. The Greatest Binnie in the World. Illustrated by Michael Martchenko (1995)
170. The Five Sisters. Illustrated by Patricia MacCarthy (1996)
171. Boom, Baby, Boom, Boom!. Illustrated by Patricia MacCarthy (1996)
172. Beaten by a Balloon. Illustrated by Jonathan Allen (1996)
173. Operation Terror. Illustrated by Ron Tiner (1997)
174. The Horribly Haunted School. Illustrated by Robert Staermose (1997)
175. A Summery Saturday Morning. Illustrated by Selina Young (1998)
176. [with Susan Cooper, Uri Orlev and others] Don't read this! and Other Tales of the Unnatural. Illustrated by Thé Tjong-Khing (1998)
177. Off to the Shop. Photographs by Mary Walker (2002)
178. A Villain's Night Out. Illustrated by Harry Horse (1999)
179. Simply Delicious!. Illustrated by Jonathan Allen (1999)
180. Down in the Dump with Dinsmore. Illustrated by Stephen Axelsen (1999)
181. Down the Dragon's Tongue. Illustrated by Patricia MacCarthy (2000)
182. [with others] Storylines: The Anthology. Ed. Tessa Duder (2000)
183. Mischief and Mayhem: Two Margaret Mahy Fantasies. Illustrated by Helen Bacon (2001)
184. Dashing Dog. Illustrated by Sarah Garland (2002)
185. The Great Car Clean-out. Illustrated by Philip Webb (2002)
186. The Gargling Gorilla. Illustrated by Tony Ross (2003)
187. [with others] Kids Night In! Ed. Jessiac Adams, Juliet Partridge & Nick Earls (2003)
188. Me and My Dog. Illustrated by Philip Webb (2002)
189. Zerelda's Horses. Illustrated by Gabriella Klepatski (2005)
190. Down the Back of the Chair. Illustrated by Polly Dunbar (2006)
191. Family Surprises. Illustrated by Lyn Kriegler (2006)
192. Bubble Trouble. Illustrated by Polly Dunbar (2008)
193. Awesome Aotearoa: Margaret Mahy's History of New Zealand. Illustrated by Trace Hodgson (2009)
194. The Dark Blue 100-ride Bus Ticket (2009)
195. The Word Witch: the Magical Verse of Margaret Mahy. Ed. Tessa Duder. Illustrated by David Elliot (2009)
196. Organ Music (2010)
197. The Moon and Farmer McPhee. Illustrated by David Elliot (2010)
198. The Margaret Mahy Treasury: Eleven Favourite Stories from the Marvellous Margaret Mahy (2011)
199. Footsteps Through the Fog. Illustrated by Gavin Bishop (2012)
200. The Green Bath. Illustrated by Steven Kellogg (2013)
201. Tale of a tail. Illustrated by Tony Ross (2014)

Non-fiction:

A Dissolving Ghost (2000)



202. Surprising Moments. Inaugural Margaret Mahy Award Lecture (1991)
203. My Mysterious World. Photographs by David Alexander (1995)
204. Questions Kids Ask Margaret Mahy (1996)
205. A Dissolving Ghost: Essays and More (2000)
     • A Dissolving Ghost: Essays and More. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2000.

Theatre:

The Library at the End of the World (1990)



206. [libretto] The Library at the End of the World. Music by Dorothy Buchanan (1990)

Television:

Typhon's People (1993)



207. [writer] Woolly Valley (1982)
208. [writer] Cuckoo Land (1986)
209. [writer] The Haunting of Barney Palmer, dir. Yvonne Mackay [based on Margaret Mahy's The Haunting (1984)] - Alexis Banas, Ned Beatty & Eleanor Gibson - (NZ, 1987)
210. [original author] Aliens in the Family (1987)
211. [original author] Dramarama: "The Horrible Story" (1987)
212. [original author] Playbus: "The Princess and the Clown" & "Thunderstorms and Rainbows" (1988)
213. [writer] Strangers (1989)
214. [writer] Typhon's People (1993)
215. [original author] The Magical World of Margaret Mahy (1994)
216. [subject] Made in New Zealand – Margaret Mahy (2004 )
217. [writer] Maddigan's Quest (2005)
218. [subject] A Tall Long Faced Tale (2008)
219. [original author] Kaitangata Twitch (2010)

Cinema:

The Changeover (2017)



220. The Changeover, dir. & writ. Miranda Harcourt & Stuart McKenzie [based on Margaret Mahy's The Changeover (1984)] - with Timothy Spall, Melanie Lynskey, Lucy Lawless, Nicholas Galitzine & Erana James - (NZ, 2017)

Secondary:

Margaret Mahy: A Writer’s Life (2005)



221. Duder, Tessa. Margaret Mahy: A Writer’s Life: A Literary Portrait of New Zealand’s Best-Loved Children’s Author. Auckland: HarperCollins, 2005.
222. Mahy, Bridget. "The bridge builder: my mother Margaret Mahy." The Spinoff (28/6/2025)

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Christchurch City Libraries: The Margaret Mahy Collection

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