The lonely and the alone : the poetics of isolation in New Zealand fiction Aloneness loneliness isolation the isolated consciousness the many possible guises of outsider status alienation and exclusion these have especial potency in New Zealand life and literature. The prominence of the motif or topos of the man or woman alone has been widely recognized by literary historians and critics but this work is the first book length exploration of it extended to encompass the broader theme of isolation. This study treats selected novels and short stories from the late nineteenth century through to the early twenty first. Close readings of works by George Chamier G.B. Lancaster Katherine Mansfield John Mulgan Graham Billing William Satchell John A. Lee Robin Hyde Frank Sargeson Fiona Kidman Noel Hilliard Patricia Grace Witi Ihimaera Keri Hulme and Alan Duff take their place alongside more comprehensive chapters devoted to selected works by two major novelists Janet Frame and Maurice Gee. Other literary works receive brief mention