Dunedin Author Gets A Helping Hand In New Shackleton Study

Dunedin Author Gets A Helping Hand In New Shackleton Study

Dunedin author Neville Peat is on his way to the UK shortly to research a new book to be called “Shackleton’s Whisky” with the help of a grant from the NZ-UK Link Foundation. The Foundation creates, promotes and manages educational and cultural exchanges between New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Neville will be researching the history of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 1907-09 Antarctic Expedition which will, in particular, feature the story of the whisky taken to Cape Royds, McMurdo Sound, and rediscovered and replicated 100 years later. Random House NZ (Longacre) and Random House UK (Preface) will publish the book before the end of the year.

Neville’s visit will include time at the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge to talk to their historians and to read some of the expedition diaries. In London he will meet the Hon Alexandra Shackleton, the explorer’s granddaughter, and perhaps other family members. He will also be travelling to Scotland to talk to master blender Richard Paterson and Whyte & Mackay’s chief chemist regarding the manufacture of Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt in Victorian times and how Whyte and Mackay’s (current owners of the Mackinlay brand) are replicating the whisky.

Neville Peat commented “I am most grateful to the NZ-UK Link Foundation for their help with this work. New Zealand and the UK have a close and historic relationship in terms of Antarctic exploration. This study will be a new way to illuminate an intriguing international story that will also demonstrate the close connection between the two countries. It will also point out the importance of international co-operation in conserving the Shackleton and Scott heritage in Antarctica.”

Mark Horton, Chairman of the NZ-UK Link Foundation, said “This is such an interesting project involving both the history of New Zealand and the UK that the Foundation is delighted to help support Neville’s research. We look forward to his new book – and perhaps a sample of the whisky if he can bring some back.”

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Notes

Neville Peat

Neville Peat is an award-winning author, photographer and adventurer, whose books mainly
explore the landscapes, flora and fauna of New Zealand. He lives in Dunedin.

Genres include natural history, geography, environment, history and biography. He has written tourist guides to destinations such as Queenstown, Wanaka, Stewart Island, the Catlins, Fiordland and the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands.

In 2007, Neville Peat was awarded New Zealand’s largest literary prize, the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writers’ Fellowship, to research and write the story of the Tasman Sea.

For further information http://www.nevillepeatsnewzealand.com

The NZ-UK Link Foundation

The NZ-UK Link Foundation – originally the Waitangi Foundation – was created in 1990 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty. It has organising committees and charitable trust status in both countries.

It creates and promotes educational and cultural exchanges between New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Through these it fosters increased awareness of what each country has to offer the other, the exchange of knowledge and the encouragement of talent.

For more information please go to www.nzuklinkfoundation.org

ENDS

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