Devonport Writer's Walk Preview

Introduction

Text for this tour has been kindly provided by Auckland CouncilSome of New Zealand’s most enduring short stories, plays, poems and novels were written on, and at least to some extent inspired by, the North Shore. Today North Shore City continues to be home to many of the country’s leading writers.The maritime suburb of Devonport dates back to the1850s. A peninsula surrounded by the Waitemata Harbour and the Rangitoto Channel, Devonport isstudded with volcanic cones, the most prominent ofwhich are Mt Victoria and North Head.Terrain: The steep lower slopes of Mt Victoria; as well as level or descending terrain.Duration: Minimum of 45 minutes.Parking: Unrestricted along both sides of King Edward Parade, east of the intersection with Buchanan St.Privacy: The walks are along public roads and contain historical facts about the buildings and the area. Most of the sites on the walks are private property and many are used as private residences. Please respect the environment and the privacy of local residents, and do not trespass on private property.Text for this tour is Copyright Auckland Council.

1

A.R.D (Rex) Fairburn (1904-1957)

Start at the ferry terminal at the end of Victoria Road, trun right and walk along the waterfront, King Edward Parade, to St. May's St. On the corner, 7 King Edward Parade lived A.R.D (Rex) Fairburn.

2

Tina Shaw (1961-)

Walk up Mays St, turn right into Kerr St passing number 4 where novelist Tina Shaw lived from 1996 until 1997. Turn left into Church St. Shaw lived at 40 Church St from 1991-95.

3

Maurice Duggan (1922-1974)

At the end of the road turn right into Albert Rd. The villa at 46 Albert Td was the childhood home of Maurice Duggan.

4

James Bertram (1910-93)

At the end turn right into Vauxhall Rd. The imposing, gabled villa at 47 Vauxhall Rd was the birthplace of James Bertram.

5

Michelle Leggott (1956-)

Turn left into Burgess St, right into Cambridge Tce and right into Domain St. here live two leading New Zealand poets, Kevin Ireland (8 Domain St) and Michelle Leggott.

6

Kevin Ireland (1933-)

Poet, novelist and short story writerIreland (Takapuna Walk), born Kevin Jowsey, moved to Narrow Neck from Mt Albert in 1938. The family later moved to Takapuna, and for a time the young Kevin was Frank Sargeson's paperboy. He moved into the army hut behind Sargeson's house after Janet Frame moved out, and there began writing poetry. From 1959 he lived in London for 25 years before returning to the Shore to live, first in Anne St, then Domain St, both in Devonport.he remembers more than twenty years ago lying embedded to the thighs in sand on a beach curved at the end like a hook wishing to catch poems he could salt and peg out on a line in the wind to dry like dally fish but all he brought in that day was: Rangitoto rises like an upper lip...its teeth sink into the sea's rim...it gnashes the sun-scaled waves images he keeps for good luck in his exile: little nets of words to hold a moment and a view as he grows older and closer to his past- The Literary Exile from Anzac Day, Kevin IrelandIreland's poetry collections include Practice Night at the Drill Hall (1984), Skinning a Fish (1994), Anzac Day (1997) and Fourteen Reasons for Writing (2001). North Shore settings are important to his novels Blowing My Top (1996), The Man Who Never Lived (1997) and several stories in Sleeping with the Angels (1995). His memoir Under the Bridge & Over the Moon (1998) won the 1999 Montana New Zealand Book Award for History and Biography. Backwards to Forwards (2002) is the second volume of his memoirs.

7

Noel Virtue (1947-)

Turn left into Vauxhall Rd and continue towards the sea, to 3/17a Church St.