| Michael O’Leary is a poet, novelist, publisher, performer and bookshop proprietor who has been a magnetic figure for many other contemporary New Zealand writers. He writes in both English and Māori; and his diverse and prolific work in poetry, fiction and non-fiction explores his dual heritage: Māori on his maternal side and Irish Catholic on his father’s. Born in Auckland in the year of the Tiger 1950, he was educated at the universities of Auckland, Otago (Dunedin), and Victoria University (Wellington). He wrote an MA thesis on the history of small presses in New Zealand, which later became the basis for his critical study Alternative Small Press Publishing in New Zealand (2002 & 2007), and he is about to complete a PhD thesis on the Status of Women Writers in New Zealand 1945-1970. His numerous publications include: Surrogate Children (poems, 1981, with Sandra Bell and Brian Hare); Ten Sonnets: Myths and Legends of Love (Poems, 1985); Straight (novel, 1985); Out of It (satirical novel, 1987); Before and After (poems and stories, 1987); Livin’ ina Aucklan’ (poems, 1988); The Irish Annals of New Zealand (novel, 1991); Noa / nothing I (an irony) and other stories (1997); Con art, (selected poems, 1997); Shake Speer’s faith: an epic poem in the Spanish manner (1998); Out of the Deep: New Poems 1979-1999 (1999); Toku tinihanga (Self-Deception): Selected Poems 1982-2002 (2003); Make Love and War (poems, 2005); and Paneta Street (poems, 2008). His latest novel is Magic Alex's Revenge (2009), the third in the 'The Dreamlander Express' trilogy, also comprising Unlevel Crossings (2002) and Straight (1985). He has written commissioned histories of two Auckland cemeteries, Waikumete and Grafton; and two Māori historical reports (Wairapara, 2002, and Whānganui, 2005). He has also edited two collections of poems by new and established poets, Wrapper (1992) and Tiger Words (2002), and with Mark Pirie, has co-edited JAAM 21: Greatest Hits (2004). Michael O’Leary’s work has appeared in Pilgrims, Te Ao Marama and elsewhere. His Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop imprint (inspired by Andy Warhol’s ‘Factory’, the Beatles’ Apple label, and John and Yoko’s ‘Plastic Ono Band’), which he founded in 1984, has published some of his own prolific output, as well as many other New Zealand writers. This press has also featured books by writers from other countries, including the first versions of Richard Berengarten’s series, Manual, in four mini-books (2005-2009). The 240-page A-Z compilation, 25 Years of the Earl of Seacliff (ed. Mark Pirie, 2009), documents Michael O’Leary’s versatile and influential oeuvre. Michael O’Leary is a trustee for the Poetry Archive of New Zealand, Aotearoa, a charitable trust dedicated to archiving, collecting and promoting New Zealand poetry. He now lives in Paekakariki, north of Wellington.
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