Elspeth Sandys


Elspeth Somerville Sandys is a New Zealand author and script writer.

Background

Born in Timaru in 1940, she grew up in Dunedin. She was adopted by the Alley family and was exposed to literature from a young age by Rewi Alley. She uses the surname Sandys as a pseudonym.
Sandys received an MA in English from the University of Auckland, an Associate Diploma in Speech & Drama and a Fellowship Diploma in Music, both from Trinity College London.

Works

Sandys's fiction often focuses on personal, social, and political relationships. While some of her novels are historical fiction their motivating themes remain contemporary. In addition to her published works, Sandys has taught creative writing and worked as an editor at Oxford University Press.

Novels

Obsession A Passing Guest Enemy Territory Riding to Jerusalem River Lines Finding Out, also published in French as Découvertes Love and War The Broken Tree, published in the United States under the title The Burning Dawn
  • ''Catch a Falling Star''

Short story collections

Standing in Line
  • ''Best Friends''

Poetry

Sandys has had poems and short fiction published in several journals including in: Landfall ; PEN ; New Zealand Listener; and ''New Zealand Books Pukapuka Aotearoa.''

Non-fiction

What Lies Beneath: a memoir Casting Off: a memoir A Communist in the Family: Searching for Rewi Alley
With John Man, Sandys has ghostwritten several non-fiction works including The Survival of Jan Little.
Sandys has written for both the BBC and Radio New Zealand including original plays and adaptations, and scripts for film and television, with performances taking place in the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

Honours and awards

Her novel, River Lines, was longlisted for the 1996 Orange Prize and her unpublished collection of short stories, Standing in Line, won the Elena Garro Prize in 2003.
In 2005, her play Vagabonds was selected for the International Playwriting Festival in London. It was also shortlisted in 2006 in the Columbus State Theatre Playwriting Competition.
In the 2006 New Year Honours, Sandys was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to literature.

Residencies and fellowships

In 1992 Sandys was awarded the Grimshaw Sargeson Fellowship with Gaelyn Gordon. She was awarded the Robert Burns Fellowship, in 1995, a literary residency at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. In 2016 she received a residency at the Michael King Writers Centre.