BACK THEN

Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd was established in 1973 as a book distributor operation in Wairau Road, Auckland.  Penguin is now a major publishing force in New Zealand working from brand new purpose-built offices in Rosedale, north of Auckland.

But in the early days in the 1970s, Penguin operated in the New Zealand book market solely as a distribution channel for Penguin Group books published around the world. A huge percentage of the imports came from Britain – more than 95% – with a few books coming from Australia. In those days there was no supply channel between North America and New Zealand.

‘YOU, START PUBLISHING!’

Graham Beattie was appointed managing director in 1978. Soon after, he received a Sunday afternoon phone call from the new Penguin Group chief executive Peter Mayer in New York instructing him to begin publishing New Zealand Penguins written for local readers by New Zealand authors. ‘Start publishing!’ Mayer ordered his New Zealand manager. So he did. Until then the only significant New Zealand literature published by Penguin had been The Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse in 1960 (with its famous introduction by the late Allen Curnow) published in London.

So it was time to publish. But how? John Barnett, then Senior Editor at Longman Paul, became Penguin’s first New Zealand editor. He initially worked in a part-time capacity to launch the new publishing programme.

IT’S A RUNAWAY!

At that time Hodder and Stoughton had enjoyed huge success with a hardback book by David Yallop called Beyond Reasonable Doubt, a hard-hitting book about the Arthur Allan Thomas murder case. Penguin made a modest offer for paperback rights to the book and was accepted. The Penguin paperback edition of Beyond Reasonable Doubt, published in February 1980 only days after Thomas was pardoned, was the first New Zealand-grown Penguin title, and it was a runaway. By December of that year five printings and 41,000 copies had been sold. Penguin’s first foray into local publishing was an undeniable success.

HEY, WE CAN FLY!

Other success published by Penguin New Zealand in the early days included:

The Kuia and the Spider (1982) by Patricia Grace and Robyn Kahukiwa, a children’s classic and the first Picture Puffin to appear in both English and Maori, first published by Longman Paul.

Penguin paperback editions of early fiction from Patricia Grace – Waiariki (1986) and Mutuwhenua (1986) – and Albert Wendt, Sons For the Return Home (1987), also all first published by Longman Paul.

The controversial Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse (1985) edited by Miriama Evans, Harvey McQueen and Ian Wedde, which caused much comment for its inclusion of poems printed first in Maori with the English translation alongside.

Michael King’s Death of the Rainbow Warrior (1986) became an international bestseller.

FOOT TO THE FLOOR

The current publishing director Geoff Walker joined Penguin in 1985. The following years saw a period of rapid expansion of the list. During this time Penguin New Zealand's publishing became notable for its award-winning fiction and non-fiction. A feature of the list was work by Maori writers, including Patricia Grace, Apirana Taylor, Robyn Kahukiwa, Bruce Stewart and Ranginui Walker.

Graham Beattie left Penguin in 1988 and was replaced by Tony Harkins, who had joined the company back in 1974 and had been responsible for finance and distribution.

Highlights of Penguin’s publishing in this period included: Potiki (1986), by Patricia Grace now with over 26,000 copies in print. A Man’s Country (1987), Jock Phillips, a trail-blazing examination of New Zealand’s male culture. Oracles and Miracles (1987), Stevan Eldred-Grigg’s bestselling story of two working class sisters in Christchurch during the forties and fifties. Moriori: A People Rediscovered (1989) by Michael King, the book that sparked the Moriori revival.

TIME TO EXPAND

In 1988 Penguin bought the long-established publishing programme of Whitcoulls. As Whitcombe and Tombs this company had been publishing for over a hundred years. The Penguin New Zealand list began to broaden into general non-fiction including natural history, gardening, cookery, kiwiana, travel and leisure. The children’s list continued to expand. This diversification continues to this day. Penguin New Zealand now produces a wide-ranging list which covers a large range of subjects and genres.

BOOKS FOR KIDS

With the famous Puffin imprint Penguin is a significant children’s publisher. Highlights have been the popular Alex quartet (1989–92) by Tessa Duder and the best-selling range of picture books for younger readers by the late Gwenda Turner. These sell all over the world. Tessa Duder, Maurice Gee and Joy Cowley continue to produce work of a high standard.

HARDBACKS TOO

Under the Viking hardback imprint Penguin has published such major titles as Anne Salmond’s Two Worlds (1991), Between Worlds (1997) and Trial of the Cannibal Dog (2004); Sandra Coney’s Standing in the Sunshine (1993); Michael King’s major biographies of Frank Sargeson (1995) and Janet Frame (2000), and The Penguin History of New Zealand (2003 and 2007’s illustrated edition); James Belich’s fine New Zealand histories Making Peoples (1997) and Paradise Reforged (2001); The Natural World of New Zealand (1998) by Gerard Hutching; the Montana-winning Central (2003) by Arno Gasteiger and Philip Temple.

FAMOUS FOLKS

A feature of the Penguin publishing in recent years has been the number of best-selling biographies of well known New Zealanders. These have included Sir Edmund Hillary: An Extraordinary Life (2005) by Alexa Johnston, Sir Peter Blake: An Amazing Life (2004) by Alan Sefton, David Lange: My Life (2005) and Judy Bailey: My Own Words (2006).

THE PAST TODAY

In addition to the works of James Belich, Michael King and Anne Salmond, Penguin’s list features a number of popular works of New Zealand history by prolific writers such as Gordon McLauchlan, Gavin McLean, Paul Moon, Richard Wolfe and Matthew Wright.

FINEST FICTION

Penguin continues to be a major New Zealand fiction publisher, combining work by exciting new writers with novels from well-established authors. Recent Penguin novels that have won the Montana/Wattie Book Award for fiction include Going West (1992) by Maurice Gee, Let the River Stand (1993) by Vincent O’Sullivan, Bulibasha (1994) by Witi Ihimaera, Zoology (1995) by Sheridan Keith, Live Bodies (1998) by Maurice Gee, The Book of Fame (2001), Tu (2005) by Patricia Grace, Blindsight (2006) by Maurice Gee and the 2007 winner, Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones.

Other noted and exciting fiction writers include Joy Cowley, Laurence Fearnley, Kapka Kassabova, Paula Morris, Linda Olsson, Charlotte Randall, Paul Shannon and Elizabeth Smither.  A number of New Zealand classics have also been kept in print over the years, including The God Boy by Ian Cross, Man Alone by Alan Mulgan, Came A Hot Friday by Ronald Hugh Morrieson, and Plumb by Maurice Gee.

WIDER AND WIDER AND WIDER

A feature of the widening Penguin list in recent years has been a very high quality range of cookery books by Auckland cookery writer Julie Le Clerc, including Vineyards of New Zealand Cookbook (2001) with wine writer Vic Williams, Simple Deli Food (2002), Café at Home (2003), Made in Morocco (2004), Viva Food (2004), and Taking Tea in the Medina (2006). Other successful authors in this area include Ruth Pretty: Best of Ruth Pretty (2001), Ruth Pretty Cooking at Springfield (2003) and Ruth Pretty’s Favourite Recipes (2006); and Peta Mathias: Cook’s Tour of New Zealand (2005) and French Toast (2006).

Writer Andrew Crowe continues to produce a wide range of superb natural history books aimed at general readers. His bestselling Which Native Tree? has now sold over 35,000 copies. The indispensable The Field Guide to New Zealand Birds (2000, revised edition 2005) by Heather Barrie and Hugh Robertson is a continuing success, and Eric Dorfman is producing popular works in the natural history genre, including Sanctuary (2005) and Inside New Zealand’s National Parks (2007).

AND OVERSEAS

A key feature of the publishing programme is close links with Penguin publishing companies in Australia and Britain. Publishers in the three countries are in close and regular contact, and substantial quantities of New Zealand-produced titles are regularly bought by overseas Penguin companies. The company is also represented at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany each year, and regularly sells foreign rights to overseas publishers outside of the Penguin Group.