North Shore Literary Walks

Introduction

Writers have been attracted to Auckland's North Shore since the 19th century, and in the middle years of the 20th century it became a meeting point out of which a New Zealand literary identity began to emerge.

Some of New Zealand's most enduring short stories, plays, poems and novels were written on, and to some extent inspired by, the North Shore. Today North Shore City continues to be home to many of the country's leading writers.

In the early 20th century the North Shore was a series of sleepy seaside settlements clustered about beautiful bays and beaches overhung with Pohutukawa trees.

From the late 1920s onward the Shore's tranquility, slow pace of life and cheap bach accommodation began to attract writers.

By the thirties, however, population pressures began to build and more and more of the baches became replaced by pemanently occupied bungalows. After the opening of the harbour bridge in 1959 growth became exponential, converting the formerly detached North Shore into a series of sprawling suburbs and inflating its land values. The motorway was extended and subdivisions, shopping centres and commercial and industrial buildings proliferated.

One consequence of this development is that many homes of the first writers who lived and worked on the North Shore have gone. The main cluster's of surviving writers' houses are in three areas: Devonport, Takapuna and Milford-Castor Bay.

In the words of poet and novelist, Kevin Ireland, writers love the shore because of its 'stunning position on the Waitemata Harbour, its superb hills, sea and beaches, its community of fellow writers and artists, and its isolation, yet proximity to, Auckland.'

The North Shore City Council has produced a booklet dedicated to the literary heritage of Takapuna, Devonport, Milford Bay, Castor Bay and Calliope Road.

The Booklet is available from the North Shore City Council or the Takapuna Library.

It provides maps and commentary to guide you around four literary walks, including the houses (or sites of former houses) of around 40 of the 81 writers who have lived, or still do live, on the North Shore.

Researched and written by Graeme Lay, (himself a novelist and Devonport resident), the project grew out of an appointment last year with a Council of Heritage Officer.

Many of the authors mentioned are well known and include Frank Sargeson, Janet Frame, Bruce Mason, Robin Hyde and Sam Hunt - and others are still writing there, such as Michele Leggott and Kevin Ireland.