John Mulgan

John Alan Edward Mulgan (31 December 1911 – 26 April 1945) was a New Zealand writer, journalist and editor, and the elder son of journalist and writer Alan Mulgan. His influence on New Zealand literature and identity grew in the years after his death. He is best known for his novel Man Alone.

Life

Gifted both academically and athletically, his New Zealand secondary education was at Wellington College (1925–1927) and Auckland Grammar School (1927–1929). Mulgan studied at Auckland University College (1930–1932), before attending Merton College, Oxford from November 1933. He was awarded a first in English in 1935, An investigation led by SOE and the British miliary determined that he had died the previous day of an overdose of morphine. The initial inquiry could not reach agreement, but a coronial inquiry by the British Consulate General recorded a verdict of suicide. The verdict was supported by a typed and signed letter written by Mulgan to his commanding officer, Dolbey, describing his intention to commit suicide and asking the officer to create a cover story for his family, suggesting possible causes of either an accidental overdose of morphine or a sudden death from fever. Mulgan also wrote two farewell letters to women friends.

Mulgan is buried at Heliopolis military cemetery in Cairo. He was survived by his wife Gabrielle (married 1937) and son Richard (born 1940).

Published works

Poems of Freedom (editor, London, Victor Gollancz, 1938) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Literature by Sir Paul Harvey (abridged and edited, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1939) The Emigrants: Early Travellers to the Antipodes (with Hector Bolitho, London, Selwyn and Blount, 1939) Man Alone (London, Selwyn and Blount, 1939) Republished 1960 (Pauls Book Arcade; with some changes to text) 2002 (Penguin pb) & 2021 (ISBN 9781776564576(Victoria University Press, Wellington & Ebook Libby) Report on Experience (London, Oxford University Press, 1947) (also published in the UK (ISBN 9781848325548) and USA (ISBN 9781591147022) Introduction to English Literature (with D. M. Davin, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1947)

Other Works [ Te Herenga Waka University Press| https://teherengawakapress.co.nz/ ] see