New Zealand Writers

BRANDT, William

...a brutal and very funny update on the male psyche.

BRANDT, William (1961 - ) is an actor, playwright and fiction writer. Born in London to New Zealand parents, he has lived in Australia, Russia, and the UK. He studied acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, and is a graduate of the Victoria University Masters programme in Creative Writing, where he won the Adam Foundation Prize in 1998, awarded each year to one graduate of the programme.

Brandt's first collection of short stories, Alpha Male (1999) won the Best First Book of Fiction award at the 1999 Montana New Zealand Book Awards.

Emily Perkins describes Alpha Male as "a brutal and very funny update on the male psyche. These stories are beautifully written, breath-taking in their psychological detail. They are also, ultimately, unexpectedly moving."

Alex O'Connell writes in the Times: "This collection of short stories by New Zealander William Brandt... is Gillette-sharp... every tale is strong in its own right - a rare thing in any book of stories, let alone a debut."

Brandt's stories are largely realist - many could be defined as a contemporary comedy of manners - but occasional flights of surrealism led Malcolm Burgess to describe Brandt in the Dominion, as "a modern, more relaxed Kafka."

(KC. Information from publisher)

Updated information

Short story, Rat, included in Boy's Own Stories, Short Stories by New Zealand Men, edited by Graeme Lay (Tandem Press, Oct 2000).

Short story included in The Picnic Virgin, New Writers chosen by Emily Perkins (VUP, 1999)

The Book of the Film of the Story of My Life (2002) Imagine your ex-wife is a filmstar and her face is everywhere you look; your own production company is failing; and at the age of 42, you’re living in London on handouts from your parents. But then a surprise invitation to a millionaire’s birthday party on a remote Pacific island provides the opportunity to cause some mayhem of your own . . . In the tradition of Nick Hornby and Tony Parsons, this first novel from the prize-winning author of Alpha Male is both moving and laugh-out-loud funny.

The Book of the Film of the Story of My Life (2002) was longlisted for the Deutz Medal for Fiction Longlist for the Montana New Zealand Book Awards 2003 .

In 2003 William Brandt was shortlisted for the prestigious Prize in Modern Letters. The shortlist includes: Kate Camp, Glenn Colquhoun and Geoff Cush.

Brandt participated in the 2004 Book Council WOW (Words on Wheels) tour of the deep South.

William Brandt has been shortlisted for the 2006 Prize in Modern Letters.