Dr Peter Simpson awarded top literary award
Michael King Writers’ Centre Trustee Dr Peter Simpson has been awarded the prestigious Creative New Zealand Michael King
Writer’s Fellowship for 2012.
During his fellowship, Dr Simpson will work on a new project exploring the rich and fertile artistic scene in
Christchurch from 1933 to 1953, with the working title Bloomsbury South. It will be a cross-disciplinary study of the network of relationships between poets, painters, musicians, playwrights
and publishers at that time.
Dr Simpson is the author of six non-fiction books, including Fantastica:The World of Leo Bensemann (Auckland University Press, 2011); Patron and Painter: Charles Brasch and Colin McCahon (Hocken Collections, 2010); Colin McCahon: The Titirangi Years 1953-1959 (AUP, 2007) and Answering Hark: McCahon/Caselberg: Painter/Poet (Craig Potton, 2001). He has edited, or contributed to, many other titles, including books on Allen Curnow, Kendrick
Smithyman, Ronald Hugh Morrieson, Charles Spear and Peter Peryer.
He is also co-founder and part-time director of the Holloway Press, which publishes limited edition books of scholarly
or artistic merit. He is a former Head of English at the University of Auckland.
He has been on the Michael King Writers’ Studio Trust since 2010 and plays an important role in leading the literary
committee, which oversees the centre’s residency programme. He has also formed a partnership in which The Holloway Press
launched a new series of hand-made, limited edition books The Signalman’s House series, which will feature the work of The University of Auckland Resident Writer.
Sam Elworthy, Chairman of the Michael King Writers’ Centre, congratulated Dr Simpson on his well-deserved achievement.
“Peter Simpson is one of this country’s intellectual giants, uniquely able to span the culture. He is an authority on
literature, art, design and more. He can move easily from Colin McCahon to Peter Peryer. And he brings to his work a
probing mind and an engaging pen.”
The Michael King Writer’s Fellowship is offered by Creative New Zealand. It is open to established writers of any
literary genre who have already published a significant body of work. Valued at $100,000, it is awarded annually for a
project that will take two or more years to complete. The Fellowship was offered for the first time in 2003, and was
renamed in recognition of the late Dr Michael King for his contribution to literature and his role in advocating for a
major fellowship for New Zealand writers.
ENDS