Margaret Mahy New Zealand writer, author of novels for children and young people. Date of Birth: 21.03.1936 Country: New Zealand

Biography of Margaret Mahy

Margaret Mahy was a New Zealand writer and author of novels for children and young adults. Born into a family of a builder and a teacher, Mahy wrote her first book at the age of seven. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Auckland (1952-1954) and the University of Canterbury (1955). In 1956, she completed the New Zealand Library School in Wellington.

In 1969, Margaret Mahy published her first book, "A Lion in the Meadow." In the 1980s, she left her job at the library and devoted herself entirely to her literary career. The University of Canterbury awarded Mahy an honorary Doctor of Letters degree and established the Margaret Mahy Fees Scholarship in her name in 1985.

Mahy is the author of over fifty books, with her most famous novel being "Haunting," for which she was awarded the Carnegie Medal by the British Library Association in 2006. Her children's books "A Lion in the Meadow" and "The Man Whose Mother was a Pirate" are considered national classics of New Zealand literature. Mahy's novels have been translated into German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Italian, Japanese, and other languages.

In Russian, one of her works, "The Dragon in the Ordinary Family," as well as one short story, have been published. She was honored with the Order of New Zealand, the highest award in New Zealand, for her contribution to children's literature. In 1991, the New Zealand Children's Book Foundation established the Margaret Mahy Medal, awarded to outstanding children's works published in New Zealand.

Margaret Mahy lived in Canterbury, New Zealand until her last days. She received numerous awards for her works, including the Carnegie Medal in 1982 for "Haunting," the Carnegie Medal in 1984 for "The Changeover," and the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2006. She also received the Phoenix Award for "The Catalogue of the Universe" in 2005 and "Memory" in 2007, as well as the Phoenix Honor Book for "The Tricksters" in 2006.