Top NZ author Alan Duff bankrupt

Alan Duff will be in Auckland next week. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Prominent New Zealand author Alan Duff has declared himself bankrupt.

The author of Once Were Warriors declared himself bankrupt on June 16 in France, ending a three-year wait by creditors owed $3.6 million, Fairfax Media reported today.

His bankruptcy will be handled by an official assignee in Napier and creditors will be told about the situation in the next few weeks.

Duff had been given till June last year to pay creditors according to a bailout plan, however he had failed to make a single payment.

Duff was almost declared bankrupt in 2008 and moved to France to try and write his way out of debt, however the two books he has so far written, Dreamboat Dad and Who Sings for Lu?, have both failed to sell more than 3000 copies, according to Neilsen Bookscan.

He has made several trips home to Hawke's Bay since moving to France and caused outrage among those he is owed when he joined the prestigious Hastings Golf Club last summer.

Duff's charity programme, Duffy Books in Homes, celebrated its 15th anniversary last August.

- Herald Online, NZPA