James George was born in Wellington and attended Glendale School, Remuera Intermediate School and Penrose High School. He began writing in 1995 and his first novel, Wooden Horses, was published in 2000. James George was winner of ‘Best short story in English’ in the 2001 Māori Literature Awards. His novel Hummingbird was shortlisted for the fiction prize in the Montana New Zealand Books Awards in 2004, and was shortlisted for the 2005 Tasmania Pacific Fiction Prize. Ocean Roads was shortlisted for the Montana Books Awards for fiction in 2007. George was a recipient of the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship in Auckland in 2007. In 2005 he received a writers grant from Creative New Zealand. In 2006 George was part of Les Belles E’trangers Writers Tour in France. He is chair of Te Ha, the writers committee of Toi Māori Aotearoa and has participated in three On the Bus Māori writers’ tours. George writes fiction novels, short stories and biographies.
Biographical sources
- Correspondence and conversation with James George, 7 Oct. and 6 Nov. 2004, and 15 Sept. 2007.
Fiction
- Wooden Horses. Christchurch: Hazard Press, 2000.
- "Zeta Orionis." Huia Short Stories 4: Contemporary Māori Fiction. Wellington: Huia, 2001. 91-98. Rpt. in Europe. France: ?, 2006.
- "Rainsong." Huia Short Stories 4: Contemporary Māori Fiction. Wellington, N.Z.: Huia, 2001: 85-90.
- "Footprints." Huia Short Stories 4: Contemporary Māori Fiction. Wellington, N.Z.: Huia, 2001: 91-98.
- Hummingbird. Wellington: Huia Publishers, 2004.
- "Walking to Laetoli." The Best New Zealand Fiction. Vol. 1. Ed. Fiona Kidman. Auckland: A Vintage Book, 2004. 55-67. Rpt. in Get On The Waka: Best Recent Māori Fiction. Ed. with and intro. By Witi Ihimaera. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed Book, 2007. 37-51.
- Ocean Roads. Wellington: Huia Publishers, 2006.
- "Figures in Ice." Best of New Zealand Fiction. Vol. 3. Ed. Fiona Kidman. Auckland: Random House, 2006.
Non-fiction
- Showband: Mahora and the Maori Volcanics. Wellington: Huia Publishers, 2005.
Other
- Knight, Kim. "This Is The Way To Write Books, by George." Sunday Star Times 4 Feb. 2007: A5.