David Watt Ballantyne (14 June 1924 – 24 February 1986) was a New Zealand journalist, novelist and short story writer.
[2] After a brief episode in the military and after not completing his medical studies, he began his career as a journalist at the Auckland Star.
He finished Freeman’s Bay, a novel about Auckland working-class life, in 1950, but it was not accepted by either his American or his New Zealand publisher.
[1] He published eight novels, of which the first The Cunninghams and the fifth, Sydney Bridge Upside Down are recognised as New Zealand literary classics.
[citation needed] Sydney Bridge Upside Down was adapted by director James Ashcroft into a stage-play for Taki Rua and presented at the Hannah Playhouse in 2013.