David Briggs
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David Briggs was brought up in rural England, where he gained his love of the countryside. After a PhD at Bristol University he moved into an academic career during which he published extensively, including a number of best-selling books on geography, environment and health.
He has always enjoyed writing, and as an escape from university work wrote a number of short stories and children’s stories, most of which are available via his website. He also wrote one novel, Figures in a Tuscan Garden, which was short-listed for the Constable Trophy in 1992, though never published. In 2009 he moved to New Zealand and devoted himself to creative writing, including both novels and poetry. Since then, he has published four novels. The Direction of Our Fear was released in September 2016 by BMS Books of Rotorua. By the Tracks We Leave, written earlier, was self-published through Amazon in 2019. The Claim was published in July 2019 by UK publishers RedDoor Press. It was long-listed for the Michael Gifkins Prize in 2018 and short-listed for the NZ Booklovers Award in 2020. His most recent novel, Zarrin, was also published by RedDoor, in 2022. All his novels explore questions about the human condition and human relationships, through dramatic plotlines and with a strong sense of character and place. His poems, likewise, are rooted in the landscape and are written to be accessible but thought-provoking, often with a playful touch. In 2015, one of his poems won a silver prize for short free verse in the United Poets Laureate International competition. Others have been published in anthologies, and in 2020 he published a collection of poems and photographs, entitled Reflections, in association with photographer JF Robert. David lives in Mapua with his wife and their two dogs. When not at home, he’s likely to be found in his favourite hideaway at Gentle Annie, on the west coast. |
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