{{short description|New Zealand geography lecturer and writer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox writer | image = Russell Kirkpatrick, 2014.jpg | caption = Kirkpatrick, 2014 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1961}} | birth_place = Christchurch, New Zealand | occupation = {{Cslist|Novelist|geography lecturer|mapmaker|photographer}} | education = University of Canterbury (PhD) | genre = Fantasy | notable_works = {{plainlist}} *''Fire of Heaven'' trilogy *''Husk'' (or ''Broken Man'') trilogy {{endplainlist}} | children = 2 | awards = | website = }}
'''Russell Kirkpatrick''' (born 1961) is a New Zealand novelist, geography lecturer, mapmaker and photographer. He has contributed to a number of notable atlases, and since 2004 has completed two fantasy trilogies. He is a three-time winner of the award for best novel (adult category) at New Zealand's Sir Julius Vogel Awards. His books were first published in Australia and in the mid-2010s he moved to Canberra, where ({{As of|2022|lc=yes}}) he now lectures at the University of Canberra.
==Life and career== Kirkpatrick was born in Christchurch in 1961, and lived there until 1999,<ref name="FBR bio">{{cite web |title=Russell Kirkpatrick biography |url=https://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/Russell-Kirkpatrick/biography.html |website=Fantasy Book Review |access-date=20 December 2022}}</ref> when he and his family moved to Hamilton.<ref name="Graham">{{cite news |last1=Graham |first1=Ann |title=Flight of fantasy |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/313786240 |access-date=21 December 2022 |work=Waikato Times |date=28 February 2004 |page=D4|id={{ProQuest|313786240}} }}</ref> He became interested in maps and mapmaking at primary school,<ref name="Keene">{{cite news |last1=Keene |first1=Howard |title=The world according to Russel |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/314292420 |access-date=20 December 2022 |work=The Press |date=28 August 1999 |page=WE3|id={{ProQuest|314292420}} }}</ref> and in the 1990s was noted as having New Zealand's largest collection of Lego.<ref name="Holloway">{{cite news |last1=Holloway |first1=Bruce |title=Map of New Zealand's heart |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/313596489 |access-date=20 December 2022 |work=Waikato Times |date=23 August 1999 |page=7|id={{ProQuest|313596489}} }}</ref> He holds a PhD in geography from the University of Canterbury, obtained in 1991,<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Kirkpatrick |first=Russell |year=1991 |type=Doctoral thesis |title=Putting self on the map: An examination of user-driven mapping |publisher=UC Research Repository, University of Canterbury |hdl=10092/4899 |doi=10.26021/6323 |url=https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/4899}}</ref> and lectured at the University of Waikato in Hamilton from 2000 until 2014. {{As of|2020}} he was based in Canberra, Australia, and working as a sessional lecturer at the University of Canberra.<ref name="Graham"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Huntman |first1=Gerry |title=New Title: Silent Sorrow by Russell Kirkpatrick |url=https://ifwgaustralia.com/2019/03/09/new-title-silent-sorrow-by-russell-kirkpatrick/ |website=IFWG Publishing Australia |access-date=19 December 2022 |date=9 March 2019}}</ref> Of his passion for maps, Kirkpatrick has said:<ref name="Keene"/> {{blockquote|I'm probably a little more obsessive than most. I have this pet theory that there's a common link between my love of maps and the fact that I'm an obsessive Lego collector, a computer programmer, and a science-fiction fantasy lover.}}
He has worked on a number of atlases, including as deputy editor of the ''New Zealand Historical Atlas'' (1998), which won the readers' choice award at the 1998 Montana Book Awards,<ref name="FBR bio"/><ref name="SST">{{cite news |last1=Bradley |last2=Lisa |title=Fantasy writer Russell Kirkpatrick |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/314124893 |access-date=19 December 2022 |work=Sunday Star-Times |date=30 March 2008 |page=C6|id={{ProQuest|314124893}} }}</ref> and as author of the ''Contemporary Atlas of New Zealand'' (1999), which had sold more than 20,000 copies {{as of|2009|lc=y}}.<ref name="SST"/> His 2000 work ''Degrees of Deprivation in New Zealand: An Atlas of Socioeconomic Difference'' was described by Annette King, then the New Zealand Minister of Health, as an "exciting tool" that could be used by the government to ensure health spending was better-targeted.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Daniel |title=Atlas illustrates NZ poverty |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/313671766 |access-date=20 December 2022 |work=Waikato Times |date=15 September 2000 |page=8|id={{ProQuest|313671766}} }}</ref> He wrote and provided photographs for a book about New Zealand waterfalls, ''Walk to Waterfalls'' (2011).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kirkpatrick |first1=Russell |title=Chasing NZ's best waterfalls |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/6041214/Chasing-NZs-best-waterfalls |access-date=19 December 2022 |work=Stuff |date=27 November 2011}}</ref> He has said his favourite waterfall in New Zealand is Marokopa Falls.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cooper |first1=Tracey |title=Falling stars |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/916025944 |access-date=21 December 2022 |work=Waikato Times |date=14 January 2012 |page=YW6|id={{ProQuest|916025944}} }}</ref>
Kirkpatrick's first novel, ''Across the Face of the World'', was published in Australia in 2004, and was the best-selling fantasy novel in Australia in that year, as well as topping the Dymocks bestseller list for over four weeks.<ref name="SST"/><ref name="Graham"/> It was followed by two further novels in the ''Fire of Heaven'' series.<ref name="SST"/> A 2004 review by ''The New Zealand Herald'' of ''Across the Face of the World'' noted that Kirkpatrick had spent 16 years writing the book, an "investment [which] seems to have paid off" in terms of world-building and the creation of a detailed atlas. The reviewer felt however that despite having "all the key fantasy elements" the book was lacking "enough creative spark to ignite [the reviewer's] imagination".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cubey |first=Mark |date=2004-04-25 |title=Russell Kirkpatrick: Across the Face of the World |language=en-NZ |journal=The New Zealand Herald |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/irussell-kirkpatricki-across-the-face-of-the-world/HXJOH32AFSF7YCXKBCLWDFASDM/ |access-date=2022-07-18 |issn=1170-0777}}</ref> Gerard Campbell for ''The Press'' described it as "a solid fantasy world that is worth a look for fans of the genre".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Campbell |first1=Gerard |title=Story Shorts |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/314576150 |access-date=20 December 2022 |work=The Press |date=13 March 2004 |page=D11|id={{ProQuest|314576150}} }}</ref> In 2008, ''Across the Face of the World'' was published in the USA and was the best-selling science fiction or fantasy debut in that year.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Holman |first1=Tim |title=Bestselling SFF Debuts of 2008 |url=https://www.orbitbooks.net/2009/01/14/bestselling-sff-debuts-of-2008/ |access-date=21 December 2022 |work=Orbit Books |date=14 January 2009}}</ref>
Each of the three novels of Kirkpatrick's ''Husk'' trilogy has won the award for best novel (adult category) at the Sir Julius Vogel Awards: ''Path of Revenge'' in 2008,<ref name="SST"/> ''Dark Heart'' in 2009,<ref>{{cite web |title=Sir Julius Vogel Awards |url=https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/sir-julius-vogel-awards/ |website=Christchurch City Libraries |access-date=19 December 2022}}</ref> and ''Beyond the Wall of Time'' in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Walton |first1=Jo |title=The Sir Julius Vogel Awards 2010 |url=https://www.tor.com/2010/08/30/the-sir-julius-vogel-awards-2010/ |website=Tor |access-date=19 December 2022 |date=30 August 2010}}</ref> Jason Nahrung, reviewing ''Path of Revenge'' for ''The Courier-Mail'', noted the praise Kirkpatrick has received for his mapmaking, and said he "has managed to not only paint a working, believable world in this, the first of a new series, but inhabit it with real people as well".<ref name="Nahrung">{{cite news |last1=Nahrung |first1=Jason |title=Three tales deftly told |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/353947849 |access-date=21 December 2022 |work=The Courier-Mail |date=10 February 2007 |page=M30|id={{ProQuest|353947849}} }}</ref> Kirkpatrick has described his second trilogy as darker than the first, noting that at the time of writing the first he was training to be a pastor.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Geoff |first1=Taylor |title=Fantasy man's strange new world |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/313305156 |access-date=21 December 2022 |work=Waikato Times |date=22 March 2008 |page=E2|id={{ProQuest|313305156}} }}</ref> ''Silent Sorrow'' (2020), the first novel in his planned ''The Book of Remezov'' trilogy, was shortlisted for the best novel award at the 2022 Sir Julius Vogel Awards.<ref>{{cite web |title=2022 Sir Julius Vogel Awards Winners |url=https://locusmag.com/2022/08/2022-sir-julius-vogel-awards-winners/ |website=Locus Magazine |access-date=21 December 2022 |date=15 August 2022}}</ref>
==Selected works==
===''Fire of Heaven'' trilogy=== *''Across the Face of the World'' (2004) *''In the Earth Abides the Flame'' (2005) *''The Right Hand of God'' (2006)
===''Husk'' or ''Broken Man'' trilogy=== The ''Husk'' trilogy was published as the ''Broken Man'' trilogy in the United States and United Kingdom. *''Path of Revenge'' (2006) *''Dark Heart'' (2008) *''Beyond the Wall of Time'' (2009)
===''The Book of Remezov'' trilogy=== *''Silent Sorrow'' (2020)
===Non-fiction=== *''New Zealand Historical Atlas'' (1998, deputy editor, with editor Malcolm McKinnon) *''Degrees of Deprivation in New Zealand: An Atlas of Socioeconomic Difference'' (2000) *''Contemporary Atlas of New Zealand'' (1999, 2nd edition 2004, author) *''Rural Canterbury, Celebrating its History'' (2001, co-editor with Garth Cant) *''Walk to Waterfalls'' (2011, author and photographer)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{isfdb name|id=Russell_Kirkpatrick}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkpatrick, Russell}} Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:New Zealand fantasy writers Category:New Zealand male novelists Category:University of Canterbury alumni Category:Academic staff of the University of Waikato Category:Educators from Christchurch Category:Writers from Christchurch Category:New Zealand emigrants to Australia Category:21st-century New Zealand novelists Category:20th-century geographers Category:21st-century geographers Category:20th-century New Zealand male writers Category:21st-century New Zealand male writers Category:Academic staff of the University of Canberra