Hugh Major studied English and Philosophy at Auckland University and he has taught these subjects at secondary schools, as well as English and Drama in both Scotland and Japan. He has also taught mask-making and the culture and history of masks at Auckland College of Education. He studied painting at La Bottega d'arte Fiorentina, the studio of Gabrielle Panerai in Florence, and also with Dr David Cranswick at the Great Western Studio in London. Hugh has exhibited in Yokohama and Auckland and was a finalist in four of the Adam Portraiture Awards between 2002 and 2008, administered by the National Portrait Gallery in Wellington, as well as for the Gallipoli Art Prize in Sydney, in 2011. He has been a finalist in the Ashton Wylie Awards for writing in the Mind, Body and Spirit genre four times including with From Monkey to Moth which came second in the 2015 Unpublished Manuscript category.