Sue McCauley

Sue McCauley QSM (born 1 December 1941 in Dannevirke) is a New Zealand novelist, short story writer, playwright, journalist and screenwriter.

Her first novel was the semi-autobiographical Other Halves (1982), which won both the Wattie Book of the Year Award and the New Zealand Book Award for Fiction. It was adapted into a film, released in 1984 with McCauley credited as screenwriter.

Her manuscript "Landed" was shortlisted for the 2021 Michael Gifkins Prize and was published in March 2023 by Bateman.

Novels

• Other Halves (1982) (Hodder & Stoughton)
• Then Again (1986) (Hodder & Stoughton)
• Bad Music (1990) (Hodder & Stoughton)
• A Fancy Man (1996) (Vintage)
• Tropic of Guile (2013) (Xlibris) a commissioned/sponsored novel
• Landed (2023) (Bateman Books)

Short story collections

• It Could be You (1997)
• Life on Earth (2003)

These short stories and others have also appeared in numerous publications and anthologies including:

• The Best of New Zealand Fiction - vol.3 (2006) and vol.4 (2007)
• .. Graminees Review (2020) A French translation.

Drama (Television Drama, Theatre Radio & Television Plays)

Television Drama

• The Shadow Trader (series) (1989)
• Shark in the Park (1991) Contributing writer
• Marlin Bay (1993) Contributing writer
• Mel’s Amazing Movies (1990s) Contributing writer- children’s series
• Posy Narkers (1990s) Contributing writer - children’s series
• Family Law Series (1990s) Educational dramatised videos.

Stage Plays

• Waiting for Heathcliff (1988) (Court Theatre)
• Hitting Fifty (2002) (Court Theatre)

Radio Plays

• The Obituary (1967)
• The Evening Out (1968)
• ABC (1970)
• Robbie (1972)
• Crutch (1975)
• Minor Adjustment (1975)
• Letters to May (1977)
• The Ordinary Girl (1978)
• When Did He Last Buy You Flowers? (1980)
• The Missionaries (1981)
• Isobel, God and the Cowboy (1981)
• The Ezra File (1982)
• Thank You Buzz Aldrin (1982)
• The Man Who Sleeps With his Mother (1983)
• The Ezra File (1982)
• Family Ties (1986)
• Waiting for Heathcliff (1989) - note: this is an adaption of stage play
• ..The Voice Despised (1989
• Rescue Remedy (1990)
• The Upward Mobility of Gordon Reddy (1998) (shortlisted for the Mobil Radio Awards)

Television Plays

• As Old As The World (1968)
• Friends and Neighbours (1974)

Film Scripts

Feature Films

• Other Halves (1986) note: this is an adaption of the novel "Other Halves", which was written by Sue McCauley

Short Films

• Married (1993)
• Matrons of Honour (1994)
• "Food for Thought" (2015) Adaption of short story "The Assassin Bug".

Journalism/ Non-Fiction

Non-Fiction

• Escape from Bosnia; Aza’s Story (1966) (Shoal Bay Press) as told to Sue McCauley by Aza Mehmedovic

Columns

• Hers (late 1960s) (NZ Listener)
• Sue McCauley On... (1970s) (Thursday Magazine)
• Lives (1988-9) (NZ Listener)

Autobiographical Essays (anthologised)

• My Father and Me (1993) (Tandem Press)
• Cherries on a Plate (1996) (Vintage)

Other

• contributor to New Zealand Heritage (1971) (historical periodical)
• contributor and TV reviewer (1970-80) (NZ Listener)
• Book reviewer (1990s) (New Zealand Books - a literary magazine)
• Reporter for - and part owner of - Waiheke Island's Gulf News (1974 -79)

Awards

• Wattie Book Award (1982)
• Mobil Radio Award (1982)
• New Zealand Book Award (1983)
• Queen’s Service Medal (1986) as published in the Supplement to the New Zealand Gazette of

Thursday, 9 January 1986

Fellowships

• Auckland University writer-in-residence (1986)
• Canterbury University writer-in-residence (1993)
• Hagley College writer-in-residence (2000)
• The Foxton Fellowship (2005)

Book Editing (anthologies)

• Erotic Writing - (1992) (Penguin) co-authored by Richard McLachlan
• Mind & Mirror - (1994) (Orca Publishing Service) writing by women imprisoned
• Totally Devoted - (2002) (Harper Collins) true stories by readers of The Women's Weekly.
• A Magpie Stole My Heart (2003) (Whitireia Publishing) writing contributed by Whitireia students.

Journalism Employment

• Copywriter, New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (1958 - 1960) note: Sue was based in Napier then Wellington
• Journalist for the New Zealand Listener weekly magazine (1960 - 61 )
• Taranaki Herald (1963-64)
• Christchurch Press (1964 -65)

Education

Sue attended Waitahora Primary School near Dannevirke; and then Nelson Girls’ College in the South Island