Mahy, Margaret (1936-2012), became New Zealand’s most popular and acclaimed children’s author. She also gained international recognition for her great storytelling ability. Mahy’s work has a lively, vivid quality that appeals to the imaginations of children. Many of her books deal with the difference between fantasy and reality. Mahy’s work ranges from picture books for young children to novels for young adults, as well as short stories, poetry, and television scripts. She published 40 novels, 20 collections of short stories, and more than 100 picture books. Her picture books won praise for their clever word play. Much of her juvenile and young adult fiction explores family relationships, especially problems faced by teenagers.
Margaret Mahy was born on March 21, 1936, in Whakatane and began writing and publishing stories while a child. She received a B.A. degree from the University of Auckland in 1958 and became a qualified librarian. While working in the school and public library systems, she continued to write, publishing stories in magazines. Her breakthrough came in 1968 when an American publisher read her work and published A Lion in the Meadow (1969). Mahy won the Esther Glen Medal for the book. The medal is awarded annually by the New Zealand Library Association to the New Zealand author who makes the most distinguished contribution to literature for children. Mahy won the Esther Glen Medal five more times, receiving her sixth medal in 2001 for 24 Hours (2001), the story of a day in the life of a 17-year-old boy.
By 1980, Mahy had become a full-time writer. In 1982, she won the Carnegie Medal, the United Kingdom’s top prize for children’s fiction, for The Haunting (1982), a story about the ghostly possession of a young boy. She received the Carnegie Medal again in 1984 for The Changeover (1984), in which a 14-year-old girl seeks help from witches to save her 3-year-old brother from death.
In 1991, the New Zealand Children’s Book Foundation established the Margaret Mahy Medal in her honor. It is awarded for an especially distinguished and significant contribution to children’s literature, publishing, or literacy. Mahy herself received the first award. In 1993, Mahy was awarded the Order of New Zealand, the nation’s highest civilian honor. In 2006, Mahy won the Hans Christian Andersen Award, a leading international award in children’s literature. Mahy died on July 23, 2012.
