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Steve Braunias

すてぃーぶ・ぶらうにあす

Suteību Burauniasu

Aliases: Steven Carl Braunias

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1960-06-20 （New Zealand）
Nationality
New Zealand
Languages
English
Residence History
Mount Maunganui, New Zealand

Career

Occupations
journalist, author, columnist, editor
Active Years
1980-2024
Affiliations
New Zealand Herald, Newsroom, Hamilton Press Club
Memberships
Hamilton Press Club (Life President)
Influenced By
Brian Glanville, Graham Greene
Influenced
Shayne Carter
Nominations
Ngaio Marsh Award finalist (The Scene of the Crime, 2017), New Zealand Photobook Awards finalist (The Shops, 2017)

Education

Mount Maunganui College
Period: 1970年代
Country: New Zealand
Attended high school
Wellington Polytechnic
Journalism
Period: 1980
Country: New Zealand
Did not graduate. Now part of Massey University.

Awards

E. H. McCormick Best First Book Award for Non-Fiction
2002
Work: Fool's Paradise
Category: Non-Fiction
Organization: New Zealand Society of Authors / Montana New Zealand Book Awards
Result: Winner
Best Non-Fiction Book
2013
Work: Civilisation: Twenty places on the Edge of the World
Organization: New Zealand Post Book Awards
Result: Winner
Buddle Findlay Sargeson Literary Fellowship
2009
Result: Winner
CLNZ Writers' Award
2010
Category: Non-Fiction
Result: Winner
Qantas Media Awards Qantas Fellowship
2006
Category: Print
Organization: Qantas Media Awards
Result: Supreme Award Winner
Cathay Pacific Travel Writer of the Year
2002
Result: Winner
Cathay Pacific Travel Writer of the Year
2010
Result: Winner
Cathay Pacific Travel Writer of the Year
2011
Result: Winner
Best Nonfiction
2023
Work: Missing Persons
Organization: Ockham New Zealand Book Awards
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Fool's Paradise

2001 Non-fiction

Satirical non-fiction work.

satiresocial commentary

Civilisation: Twenty places on the Edge of the World

2012 Non-fiction

Affectionate travel book about 20 small towns in New Zealand.

travelsmall townsNew Zealand culture

Missing Persons

2021 Non-fiction

Stories of missing persons.

crimemystery

Bibliography

  • Fool's Paradise
  • How to Watch a Bird
  • Fish of the Week
  • Roosters I Have Known
  • Smoking in Antarctica
  • Civilisation: Twenty places on the Edge of the World
  • Madmen: Inside the weirdest election campaign ever
  • The Scene of the Crime
  • The Shops
  • The man who ate Lincoln Road
  • The Friday Poem (Editor)
  • Missing Persons
  • Cover Story: 100 beautiful, strange and frankly incredible NZ album covers
  • The Survivors: Stories of Death and Desperation
  • Polkinghorne: Inside the Trial of the Century

Style & Themes

Literary Style
satiricalhumorousconversational
Recurring Motifs
small townstraveleveryday satiresports

Legacy

Prominent New Zealand journalist and author with over 40 national awards for his satirical and humorous non-fiction writing.

In Popular Culture

  • Praised by musician Shayne Carter in his autobiography.

Quotes

  • He’s my favourite journalist in New Zealand. He’s into Brian Glanville and Graham Greene, and when his columns first appeared he called people out in a way no other New Zealand journalist was doing at the time. He wrote about sitting around in the dole in old lady cafes, eating pastries and pink lamingtons and enjoying an honest pot of tea. Then he’d take out some bureaucrat for being such a loser.
    Source: Dead People I Have Known (2019)

Trivia

  • Born to an Austrian immigrant father and a New Zealand-born mother.
  • Younger brother of artist Mark Braunias.
  • Influenced by comic books Shoot, Roy of the Rovers, Tiger and Scorcher.
  • Publisher of Luncheon Sausage Books.