David Hill (author)

Hill was born in 1942 in Napier.{{Cite web|url=https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/new-zealand-childrens-authors/david-hill/|title=Interview with David Hill|date=2002|website=Christchurch City Libraries|access-date=22 October 2018}} He gained an MA (Hons) from Victoria University of Wellington in 1964 and taught English in secondary schools in New Zealand and England before becoming a full-time writer in 1982.{{Cite web|url=https://www.storylines.org.nz/Storylines+Profiles/Profiles+D-H/More+in+Profiles+D-H/David+Hill.html|title=David Hill|website=Storylines|access-date=22 October 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.penguin.co.nz/authors/david-hill|title=David Hill|website=Penguin Books}}

His work includes fiction, plays and reviews and articles in newspapers, journals and magazines, both in New Zealand and overseas. His books for young people range from picture books to books for young adults. His novels have been published around the world and translated into various languages and his work has also been broadcast on the radio. He visits schools as part of the Writers in Schools programme{{cn|date=August 2022}} and is one of the presenters on the Coursera online course Writing for Young Readers: Opening the Treasure Chest.{{Cite web|url=https://www.coursera.org/learn/writing-for-children|title=About this course: Instructors|website=Coursera|access-date=23 October 2018}} He enjoys writing for teenagers because he sees them as an exciting and challenging audience to write for: sophisticated readers, who are at a stage where they are coming across many new ideas and experiences in their lives for the first time.{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/91246947/david-hill-why-i-gave-up-writing-contemporary-fiction-for-teens|title=David Hill: Why I gave up writing contemporary fiction for teens|last=Harvey|first=Helen|date=12 April 2017|website=Stuff|access-date=23 October 2018}}

He cites Maurice Gee as his favourite author, and Joy Cowley and Margaret Mahy as his favourite children's authors.

Hill currently lives in New Plymouth.

Hill was the Robert Lord Writer in Residence in Dunedin from June to August 2003.{{Cite web|url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0302/S00124/robert-lord-writers-in-residence-announced.htm|title=Robert Lord Writers in Residence announced|date=25 February 2003|website=Scoop|access-date=22 October 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.otago.ac.nz/humanresources/otago679893|title=The University of Otago College of Education Creative New Zealand Children's Writer in Residence|website=University of Otago|access-date=22 October 2018}} In 2010, he participated in the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa.{{Cite web|url=http://www.creativenz.govt.nz/news/respected-author-granted-international-residency|title=Respected author granted international residency|date=19 May 2010|website=Creative NZ|access-date=22 October 2018}} He was Artist-in-Residence (co-sponsored by Massey University and the Palmerston North City Council) in Palmerston North in 2016.{{Cite web|url=http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/about-massey/news/article.cfm?mnarticle_uuid=FCB56A65-9679-D8B4-5B40-95204BF6FE36|title=Literary shortlists for Massey's artist-in-residence|date=9 June 2016|website=Massey University Te Kunenga Ki Purehuroa|access-date=22 October 2018}} He is also a frequent speaker at literary festivals and took part in the Auckland Writers Festival Schools Programme in 2017.{{Cite web|url=http://www.writersfestival.co.nz/look-and-listen/schools-programme/Page2/|title=Look, Listen & Learn: David Hill: War Stories (AWF Schools Programme 2017)|website=Auckland Writers Festival|access-date=22 October 2018}}

Hill was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2004 New Year Honours, for services to literature.{{Cite web|url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/new-year-honours-list-2004|title=New Year Honours List 2004|date=31 December 2003|website=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet: Te Tari o te Pirimia me te Komiti Matua|access-date=22 October 2018}}

In 2005 Hill became the 15th recipient of the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal and Lecture Award.{{cite web |url=http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Kids/LiteraryPrizes/ChildrensLiteratureFoundationNZ/MargaretMahy/ |title=Margaret Mahy Medal Award |year=2012 |publisher=Christchurch City Libraries |location=Christchurch, New Zealand |accessdate=25 July 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.storylines.org.nz/Awards/Margaret+Mahy+Award.html |title=Margaret Mahy Award |year=2012 |work=Storylines.org.nz |publisher=Storylines Children's Literature Charitable Trust of New Zealand |location=Auckland, New Zealand |accessdate=25 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120706024842/http://www.storylines.org.nz/Awards/Margaret%2BMahy%2BAward.html |archivedate=6 July 2012 |df=dmy-all }}

Many of Hill's books have won or been shortlisted for awards and named as Storylines Notable Books. See Ya Simon won the 1994 Times Educational Supplement Award for Special Needs and was awarded the Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award for a Much-loved Book in 2002.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writer/hill-david/|title=Hill, David|date=January 2017|website=New Zealand Book Council: Te Kaunihera Pukapuka o Aotearoa|access-date=22 October 2018}} In 2013 My Brother's War won the Junior Fiction Award at the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards, and also the children's choice award in that category.{{cite web |url=http://booksellers.co.nz/awards/new-zealand-post-childrens-book-awards/winners-announced-new-zealand-post-children’s-book-awa |title=Winners announced for New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards |date=24 June 2013 |work=New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards |publisher=Booksellers New Zealand |location=Wellington, New Zealand |oclc=182896192 |accessdate=19 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103084157/http://www.booksellers.co.nz/awards/new-zealand-post-childrens-book-awards/winners-announced-new-zealand-post-children%E2%80%99s-book-awa |archive-date=3 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://booksellers.co.nz/awards/new-zealand-post-childrens-book-awards/childrens-choice-award |title=Children's Choice Award |date=27 June 2013 |work=New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards |publisher=Booksellers New Zealand |location=Wellington, New Zealand |oclc=182896192 |accessdate=19 November 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131119060617/http://booksellers.co.nz/awards/new-zealand-post-childrens-book-awards/childrens-choice-award |archive-date=19 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}

In 2021, Hill received the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in Fiction.{{cite news |title=Authors honoured with Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/126859492/authors-honoured-with-prime-ministers-awards-for-literary-achievement |access-date=4 November 2021 |work=Stuff.co.nz |date=4 November 2021}}

In the 2024 New Year Honours, Hill was promoted to Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to literature, particularly children’s literature.{{cite news |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/new-year-honours-2024-the-full-list/MKD6GRO3SNFONISQU45WVVRK4Q/ |title=New Year Honours 2024: the full list |date=30 December 2023 |work=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=30 December 2023}}

• The Seventies (1970)
• Introducing Maurice Gee (1981)
• On Poetry: Twelve Studies of Work by New Zealand Poets (1984)
• Ours But to Do (1986)
• Taranaki (1987)
• The Boy (1988)
• A Time to Laugh (1990)
• The Games of Nanny Miro (1990)
• See Ya, Simon (1992)(winner of 1994 Times Educational Supplement Award for Special Needs and Children's Literature Foundation Gaelyn Gordon Award for a Much-Loved Book. NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the field of Social Studies. Bank Street College Children's Book of the Year. Reprinted in the United States.)
• A Day at a Time (1994)
• Curtain Up (1995)
• Kick Back (1995)
• Take It Easy (1995)(also reprinted in the United States){{cite book|last=Hill|first=David|title='About the Author' from 'Take it Easy'|year=1995|publisher=Dutton Children's Books|isbn=0525457631}}
• The Winning Touch (1995)
• Second Best (1996)
• Fat, Four-eyed and Useless (1997)(Winner Esther Glen Medal 1998; New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards finalist 1998)
• Just Looking, Thanks (1999)
• Boots 'n' All (1999)
• Right Where It Hurts (2001)(winner of 2003 LIANZA Esther Glen Medal, New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards 2003 shortlister)
• The High Wind Blows (2001)
• The Sleeper Wakes (2001)
• The Name of the Game (2001)
• Where All Things End (2002)
• My Story: Journey to Tangiwai, The Diary of Peter Cotterill, Napier 1953 (2003)(New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2004 junior section finalist)
• No Big Deal (2003)
• No Safe Harbour (2003)(New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2004 young adult section finalist)
• Coming Back (2004)(New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2005 young adult section finalist)
• Bodies and Soul (2005)(Storylines Notable Book 2006)
• Running Hot (2005)(New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2006 young adult section finalist)
• Aim High (2006)
• Hill Sides (2006)
• How I met myself, Cambridge University Press, (2006) {{ISBN|0521686202}}
• Black Day (2007)
• The Forgotten Children (2007)
• Duet (Youth Book) (2007)
• My Brother's War (2012)
• The Red Poppy (2012)(Storylines Notable Book 2013)
• Sinking (2013)(Storylines Notable Book 2014)
• The Deadly Sky (2014)
• First to the Top: Sir Edmund Hillary’s Amazing Everest Adventure (2015)(winner of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2016 Children's Choice Award - Non-Fiction. Listed as a Storylines Notable Book for 2016)
• Enemy Camp (2016)(finalist for the Esther Glen Junior Fiction Award and the Children's Choice Junior Fiction Award in 2016 New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults)
• Speed King (2016)
• Flight Path (2017)
• Sky High: Jean Batten's Incredible Flying Adventures (2019)(New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2019 non-fiction section finalist)
• Taking the Lead: How Jacinda Ardern Wowed the World (2020)
• Below (2023)(Esther Glen Award, 2023 winner){{Cite web |title=2023 Awards Winners |url=https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards-for-children-and-young-adults/2023-awards/winners/ |access-date=2023-12-09 |website=New Zealand Book Awards Trust}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/hilldavid.html New Zealand Writers: HILL, David]
• [http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Kids/ChildrensAuthors/DavidHill.asp Interviews with NZ Children's Authors: David Hill]

{{Margaret Mahy Award winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, David}}

Category:1942 births

Category:Living people

Category:New Zealand male novelists

Category:Victoria University of Wellington alumni

Category:People from Napier, New Zealand

Category:20th-century New Zealand novelists

Category:21st-century New Zealand novelists

Category:20th-century New Zealand male writers

Category:21st-century New Zealand male writers

Category:New Zealand children's writers

Category:Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit