Richard Webster (New Zealand author)

Biography

Richard Webster was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He was educated at King's School and King's College. As a child, he wrote and produced a weekly neighbourhood newspaper called The Waiochiel that he sold to his neighbours. He worked in publishing for several years before starting his career as a writer, entertainer, and speaker. He initially worked as a ghost writer, and wrote a small book on the subject. He is the author of 112 books, mainly on New Age topics. He has also written three novels.

His books have been translated into 29 languages: Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Bahasa Indonesia, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai and Turkish.

Rainbow News described him as "one of the most successful writers in the country". New Idea magazine wrote that Richard is "probably New Zealand's most successful author".

Webster has appeared on numerous radio and TV programs, including Hard Copy, WMAQ-TV (Chicago), KTLA-TV (Los Angeles), KSTW-TV (Seattle), and Mike and Maty (ABC). In 1996, he was one of the performers on The Great Kiwi Magic Show on TV3.

In 2000 the Richard Webster Popular Fiction Award was established, with the winner receiving a $5,000 prize and publication of their winning entry.

Webster is a past president of the New Zealand Society of Magicians. He received the prestigious Grand Master of Magic Award in February 2013.

Personal

Richard is married with three children and five grandchildren.

Magic and mentalism

Richard has written 37 books for magicians and mentalists, many cited as modern-day classics. He has also marketed several effects and produced CDs and DVDs of his techniques and effects. He has ghostwritten magic books for other performers, and he has written several magic books using different pen names. His magic effects have been published in many industry magazines including Abracadabra, Alakazam, Genii, The Linking Ring, Magicana, Magick, Magigram, Magic New Zealand, The Magic Circular, Mind Over Magic, New Invocation, Seance, Vanish and Vibrations.

Ghostwriting

Richard made his living as a ghostwriter for several years and has ghosted 30 books on a wide variety of subjects.

Richard Webster Popular Fiction Book Award

In 2000 Webster in conjunction with Hazard Press, established the annual Richard Webster Popular Fiction Award competition, which ran for five years. The winning author each year received $5,000, plus publication of their winning entry by Hazard Press.

Awards

The Dunninger Memorial Award for Distinguished Professionalism in the Performance of Mentalism. Presented by the Psychic Entertainers Association, June 9, 1990.

Variety Artists Club of New Zealand Scroll of Honour 1994.

Variety Artists Club of New Zealand Top Specialty Act 1997.

Dan Blackwood Memorial Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Art of Mentalism presented by the Psychic Entertainers Association, June 2007.

Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of a lifetime dedicated to excellence in writing magical literature. Presented by Magic New Zealand, December 2008.

Convention of Visionary Retailers Visionary Awards - Best Divination Book 2012 - Spirit and Dream Animals by Richard Webster, June 2012.

Grand Master of Magic Award presented by the Brotherhood of Auckland Magicians, the Shore City Magicians Club, and the magicians of New Zealand, February 2013.

The Annemann Award for Mentalism presented by Stevens Magic Emporium, Kansas, March 2014.