Landmarks

A companion volume to the remarkable Timeless Land.

A handsome, landmark book celebrating the work of three of our literary and artistic heavyweights.

The complementary work of artist Grahame Sydney, fiction writer Owen Marshall and poet Brian Turner was first brought together in the hugely successful Timeless Land in 1995. Its pages showed their shared, deep connection to Central Otago, to its vast skies, its wide plains punctuated by jagged ranges, its unique colours and its dwarfing effect on the people who pass through it. Twenty-five years later, this lavish new volume from these three long-time friends showcases a rich selection of their subsequent work, including recently written, previously unpublished pieces. Through their own marks about the land and its people, be it in ink or paint, they offer a love song to the South Island, in particular Central Otago.

Author Biography

Owen Marshall, described by Vincent O’Sullivan as ‘New Zealand’s best prose writer’, is an award-winning novelist, short story writer, poet and anthologist, who has written or edited 30 books, including the bestselling novel The Larnachs. Numerous awards for his fiction include the New Zealand Literary Fund Scholarship in Letters, fellowships at Otago and Canterbury universities, and the Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellowship in Menton, France. In 2000 he became an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to literature; in 2012 was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) and in 2013 received the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in Fiction. In 2000 his novel Harlequin Rex won the Montana New Zealand Book Awards Deutz Medal for Fiction. Many of his other books have been shortlisted for major awards, and his work has been extensively anthologised.

Grahame Sydney is one of New Zealand’s most significant and enduring artists. His work spans over 4 decades and encompasses oils, watercolours, egg tempera, lithographs, etching and photography. Rarely exhibiting, Grahame’s works are held in private collections throughout the world and represented in New Zealand’s major galleries and museums. Since 2003 he has lived and worked in a remote corner of Central Otago, close to his recurrent subject matter. Sydney is the author or significant contributor to several books including, Grahame Sydney Paintings- 1974 – 2014, Grahame Sydney’s Central Otago (photographs, 2011) and Promised Land (2009). He has been awarded an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for his services to painting.

Brian Turner is a well-known writer of creative non-fiction and poetry. His publications include best-selling sports biographies and numerous collections of poetry, including Ladders of Rain (joint winner Commonwealth Poetry prize (1978)), Beyond (winner NZ Book Awards for Poetry (1993)), and Just This (winner NZ Post Book Award for Poetry (2010)). Brian has written plays and television scripts and his work has appeared in countless magazines, journals and anthologies. Amongst his extensive list of accolades, he was the Te Mata Estate NZ Poet Laureate (2003-05), was awarded the New Zealand Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in Poetry (2009) and in 2011 received an Hon D Litt from the University of Otago.