Bio
Peri Hoskins was born in Wellington, New Zealand. He is the second son of a family of five children, four boys and a girl, and is of mixed Maori and Anglo-Celtic ancestry.
He grew up in Whangarei, Northland, a provincial city then home to about 30,000 people, and was educated at Whangarei Boys' High School, where he twice won a national essay competition.
After high school he studied law and humanities at Auckland University, and later at the University of Sydney. He then worked as a lawyer in New South Wales, a period that ran from 1985 to 2005.
In 1994 he undertook a five-month road trip around Australia. That journey became the seed of his novel East, a novel-length travelogue following the junior lawyer Vince Osbourne.
About the Author Peri Hoskins brings a writer's perspective shaped by years of professional practice and a wide-ranging life journey. His work draws on diverse experiences across New Zealand and Australia, blending elements of memoir, travelogue, and creative nonfiction into narratives that explore identity and place. The Vince Osbourne series, beginning with East and continuing through Millennium, reflects a fascination with the richly textured encounters that arise when a seasoned observer moves through unfamiliar settings. Readers familiar with his storytelling often note the careful balance of personal reflection and broader social observation that characterizes his prose, inviting contemplation of the human encounters that shape a journey.
At a glance
| Born | Wellington, New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Ancestry | Mixed Maori and Anglo-Celtic |
| Raised in | Whangarei, Northland, New Zealand |
| School | Whangarei Boys' High School |
| University | Auckland University; University of Sydney |
| Subjects studied | Law and humanities |
| Career | Lawyer in New South Wales, 1985–2005 |
| Road trip | Five months around Australia, 1994 |
My books
Two books came out of that background — a road novel and a Pacific travelogue.