"Maurice Gee: Life and Work" by Rachel Barrowman, to be published 9 July. You are invited to the launch.

This much anticipated biography, Maurice Gee: Life and Work by Rachel Barrowman, is released on 9 July.

The biography interweaves the story of Gee's life with that of his long literary career. Barrowman says Gee was very open, generous and honest with her.

"He said at the outset that he didn’t like the term ‘authorised biography’, in the sense that it implied he was maintaining or wanted to exert control. It was to be my book, he wouldn’t interfere. As far as he was concerned there was no point in doing a biography if it wasn’t to be ‘warts and all’."

Barrowman has spent nearly ten years researching and writing the book, which covers Gee's long and productive career of seventeen adult novels, thirteen children’s novels, a volume of short stories and writing for screen.

Maurice Gee: Life and Work will be launched by Damien Wilkins on Thursday 9 July at Unity Books in Wellington, 6pm–7.30pm. All welcome.

Rachel Barrowman will be a guest speaker at Going West Festival on Saturday 12 September where she will talk about the biography with Geoff Chapple. The Festival takes its name from the novel by Gee, who spent his childhood in Henderson. The fictional town of Loomis features in many of his books.

Rachel will also be a guest at the Page and Blackmore's Readers and Writers Festival in Nelson on Saturday 24 October.