John Hicks

John Hicks is a retired veterinarian. He and his young wife emigrated to New Zealand in the early 1970s. Apart from a brief stint in a dog and cat practice in Yorkshire, he spent most of his working life in various parts of rural New Zealand enjoying the challenge of mixed practice with sheep, deer, dairy and beef cattle, horses, working dogs and pets.

For his two veterinary memoirs he has drawn as much on his formative years in England as his experiences in New Zealand. Emigration brings with it a questing interest in origins and roots and this is also a theme in his writing.

Hicks was the 'Vet Talk' columnist for The Southland Times for several years and has contributed articles to scientific journals and various magazines. His columns were usually of a quirky, or satirical nature - in similar style to that he has used in 'Pizzles in Paradise' which was first published by Hazard Press in New Zealand in 2005. He released a revised edition of 'Pizzles in Paradise' in 2016. Its sequel, 'A Wander in Vetland' is also now available in print.

Hicks changed direction with 'She Bid Me Take Love Easy' - a work of literary fiction. It is a coming-of-age novel that draws heavily on his experiences of boarding at a strict single-sex English public school and the subsequent shock of release into university life during the “swinging” ’60s: the confusing years when society's attitudes towards sex were being redefined. He uses a parallel story - the true account of Captain Lugard's disastrous love affair in the Indian Army in Victorian times - to explore themes of obsession, love, jealousy and sexual morality.