Richard Wolfe

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wolfe, Richard (1948 - ) is a writer for adults and children, and a freelance curator of exhibitions.

With his wife, artist Pamela Wolfe, Richard Wolfe has published three picture books for children. Midnight at the Museum (1998), a finalist in the New Zealand Post Childrens Book Awards, draws on his years of experience working as a display artist and curator at Canterbury and Auckland museums.

Midnight at the Museum (1997) 'is destined to become one of the classic childrens books like Maurice Sendaks The Night Kitchen,' writes the National Business Review. Two further picture books, Mouse Opera (1999) and Mouse Hotel (2000), take a rodents-eye view of two very human activities.

Midnight at the Museum and Mouse Opera were finalists in the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards 1998 and 2000 respectively. Mouse Opera was also included in 'The White Ravens 2001: A Selection of International Children’s and Youth Literature exhibited at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, 2001' by the Internationale Jugend Bibliothek, Munchen.

Walter's Planets (2001) is the story of a boy who sees something very strange in outer space. Could it be a new planet?

Dylan Owen in the Dominion describes Walter’s Planet as 'a celebration of Kiwi ingenuity, invention and technological triumph, and there’s not a computer in sight... [t]he balanced and strain-free rhyme purrs along'.

Wolfe's books for adults document aspects of New Zealand's art, history and popular culture. He has written dozens of articles for journals and newspapers on subjects ranging from the art of New Zealands early tourist trade to the lithographs of Tony Fomison.

'Wolfe writes consistently engaged and engaging prose,' writes Gregory OBrien in New Zealand Books. 'He has a great eye for detail and a sleuth-like ability for tracking [it]... valuable, warm-spirited and enjoyable.'

Richard Wolfes titles are Well Made New Zealand: A Century of Trademarks (1987); New Zealand! New Zealand! In Praise of Kiwiana (Co-author Stephen Barnett, 1989); Kiwi: More than a Bird (1991); At the Beach: The Great New Zealand Holiday (Co-author Stephen Barnett, 1993); All Our Own Work: New Zealand’s Folk Art (1997); Remember When Our New Zealand 1900 to 1999 (1999); Kiwiana! The Sequel (Co-author Stephen Barnett, 2001); In My Day: Looking at New Zealand’s Past (2001); Classic Kiwiana: An Essential Guide to New Zealand Popular Culture (Co-author Stephen Barnett, 2001); The Way We Wore: The Clothes New Zealanders Have Loved (2001).

Richard and Pamela Wolfe visit schools together as part of the Book Council's Writers in Schools programme.

Moa: The Dramatic Story of the Discovery of a Giant Bird (2003) by Richard Wolfe is 'the intriguing story of the controversy and personalities behind the discovery of the moa in the nineteenth century.'

Mouse on the Moon by Richard and Pamela Wolfe (2003) Is Cosmo Mouse going to be the first mouse on the moon? And is it really made of cheese?

Hell-hole of the Pacific (Penguin, 2005) is Wolfes latest novel for young adults. In the 1830s Kororareka in the Bay of Islands was known as the 'hell-hole of the Pacific.' But was it actually a hell-hole? In this absorbing book on one of the most lively periods in New Zealand history, Wolfe asks new questions, confronts existing myths, and comes up with some fascinating answers.

Fronting Up is a survey of more than 100 classic New Zealand magazines from the archives of the Auckland Museum Library. They provide an insight into the nation's interests and changing reading habits.

Battlers, Bluffers & Bully Boys is a reference book that provides a brief description of each New Zealand Prime Minister, beginning with Henry Sewell in 1856. The book also focuses on contemporary developments in politics.

Wolfe's most recent work, Crikey!: Talk About Kiwiana (Random House, 2009), is an illustrated collection that documents the stories behind the objects, events and people that have defined and distinguished popular culture in New Zealand.