William Taylor (writer)

William Robin Taylor ONZM (11 October 1938 – 3 October 2015) was a writer from New Zealand.

Biography

Taylor was born in Lower Hutt. Before he began writing in the 1980s, Taylor worked as a primary school principal and served as mayor of Ohakune from 1981 to 1988,[1] before moving to Raurimu. He won the Choysa Bursary in 1986, and turned his attention to writing full-time that year. Taylor's last book was published in 2010, the memoir Telling Tales: A Life in Writing.[2]

Taylor died in 2015 at Taumarunui.[2] His funeral was held on 8 October 2015, three days before he was to turn 77.[3]

Honours and awards

Over the course of his career, Taylor won the Esther Glen Award (1991), an AIM Children's Book Award (1995), a Margaret Mahy Medal (1999), and was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award (2000).

In the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours, Taylor was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to children's literature and the community.[4]

References
  1. "William Taylor profile". New Zealand Book Council. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  2. "Children's author William Taylor dies in Taumarunui". Stuff.co.nz. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  3. Thomas, Rachel (8 October 2015). "Author and former Ohakune Mayor William Taylor farewelled". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  4. "Queen's Birthday honours list 2004". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 7 June 2004. Retrieved 30 May 2020.


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