New Zealand Writers

BECKETT, Bernard

His knowledge of teenage culture is reflected in his believable adolescent characters.

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BECKETT, Bernard (1967 - ) is a children's writer and secondary school teacher whose knowledge of teenage culture is reflected in his believable adolescent characters.

His first novel for young adults is Lester (1999). Lester is a tramp who returns to a small New Zealand town just as an evangelical mission is becoming established. "This is an accomplished first novel that realistically portrays teenagers' concerns (including sex) and shows them conscientiously engaged in their own town," writes Jill Holt in the NZ Listener.

Beckett's second novel is Red Cliff (2000). It tells the story of a teenage boy's attempts to "beef up" to impress the most popular girl in the school. Predictably, Samuel's body building project does not work out as planned.

(KC.)

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Beckett's chilling psychological thriller Jolt (2002), was a finalist in the Senior Fiction category of the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards 2002.

No Alarms (2002) revolves around Sharon, who lives with her mother, Kaz, and brother Zinny. Sharon's in trouble at school, hates her home life and blames the system for her failures. She is is a classic teenager in a classic situation which few New Zealanders have been able to explore with such perception.

3 Plays: Puck, Plan 10 from Outer Space, The End of the World As We Know It (2003) is a volume of three large-cast plays which 'provide twisted new takes on the business of being a teenager.'

In 2003 Beckett travelled to the Melbourne Writers Festival as part of a New Zealand Book Council Trans-Tasman Exchange.

Set in London immediately following World War Two, Home Boys (2003) follows two boys sent halfway across the world because someone thought it would be better for them. The book captures the world of Colin and Dougal - on the run and in search of a place to belong.

Malcolm and Juliet (Longacre Press, 2004) is a "hilarious, with a marvelous sting in the tail" comedy about Malcolm, a 16-year-old with the mind of a scientist, the body of a teenager, and an ambition to reconcile the two. He embarks upon his latest research project - sex.

Malcolm and Juliet won the Young Adult Fiction Category of the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2005.

It also won The Esther Glen Award at the LIANZA Children's Book Awards 2005. The judges said: “Malcolm and Juliet combines quirky humour with a sophisticated literary and theatrical style elevating the story into something more than simply farce or satire. Cleverly and tightly plotted with strong dialogue reflecting the novel’s origins in a stage-play, this book challenges readers and keeps them guessing. Loose ends are tied up in an appropriately stylised, Shakespearean way.”

Bernard Beckett co-wrote Deep Fried (Longacre Press, 2005), with Clare Knighton, one of his former students. Deep Fried tackles controversial themes, and fuses social satire with the plot elements of a thriller. It was nominated in the Young Adult category of the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2006.

Bernard Beckett won the Young Adult Fiction category of the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2007, for his book Genesis (Longacre Press).