Redundancy was a blessing in disguise for Aucklander David Lyndon Brown, who used the payout and the time on his hands
to reinvent himself and do something he loved - writing.
The hard slog is showing results now. Brown's first book, Calling the Fish and Other Stories, has just been published by
University of Otago Press. The twenty-two stories in this collection have all received recognition: they've been
broadcast on National Radio, appeared in magazines and anthologies, and won short story competitions.
Brown's stories are sensitive, flamboyant, often humorous and occasionally surreal, with satisfying twists. Drag queens
primp and preen, a supermarket checkout operator takes revenge, gay men gather at a friend's funeral, single mums have a
girls' night out, an elderly couple go shopping - the characters are memorable and lively, and some appear several
times, linking the stories together.
Most of the stories take place in urban settings, many with an Auckland feel. The cover is enticing: a vibrant Hawai'ian
shirt image, by Dunedin designer Annaloes Douglas, conveying the feeling of a shimmering, sub-tropical summer.
Although Calling the Fish is Brown's first book, he is no novice. Since being made redundant in 1993 he has enrolled in
every creative writing course going. As well as stories, he writes plays and now teaches creative writing. Calling the
Fish and Other Stories will be launched in Auckland on 18 July.
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'There is a good case for stating that Brown is one of New Zealand's very best writers of fiction. Observant, sly,
nimble, he has a beady little eye for detail and a big ear for speech, and he genuinely cares about his characters.' -
Listener
Contents Starr, The Spin, Proof, Cracked, Spanish Steps, The Mortification of Henry James, Faith, The Revisionist at
Play, Why I Never Learned to Swim, Calling the Fish, You Wouldn't Read About It, The Last Supper, The Triumph of Hope,
Heavenly Father, Solstice, I Spy, Trains and Boats and Planes, Blueboy Explores the Hotspots, Ever After, The Little
Mermaid, Wasted, The Object of My Affection (22 stories in total).
About the Author David Lyndon Brown was born in South Auckland in 1951 and grew up in Papatoetoe. A champion roller
skater in his youth, he studied at Elam School of Fine Arts, where he majored in sculpture. In the early seventies he
became involved in the Gay Liberation movement. He had various jobs: an egg processor, a shop assistant, a fashion
designer, a gardener at a mental hospital, then worked as a telephone operator for Telecom while pursuing writing and
painting. When David was made redundant in 1993, he decided to return to his creative roots, to reinvent himself, and
began writing seriously. His work has been broadcast on National Radio, published in NZ Listener, Another 100 Short
Short Stories, Pander, JAAM, The NeXt Wave and Queer View Mirror. He has been shortlisted in or a winner of the Sunday
Star Times Short Story Competition, the Out and Proud Short Story Competition, the Querelle Short Story Competition, and
the Joan Faulkner Blake Short Story Competition. He has also worked on corporate video scripts and magazine articles.
David devised and conducted a creative writing course called 'Out of Your Head' for the School of Continuing Education
at Auckland University. In 1999 David collaborated with Olwyn Stewart on a play called The Wild Blue Yonder, which had a
public reading at Downstage in Wellington in June. He is currently working on a new play with Olwyn.
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