Honorary Doctorate for Noted Poet

Distinguished New Zealand poet and artist Cilla McQueen will receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Literature from the University of Otago this weekend.

Ms McQueen is a University of Otago graduate and former Robert Burns Fellow (1985-86). She has published 10 volumes of poetry, including several award-winning books.

Her first volume won the Jessie MacKay Award and the New Zealand Book Award for Poetry and she has won the latter award on two further occasions.

Vice-Chancellor Professor David Skegg says he is delighted that the University is able to recognise Ms McQueen's powerful contributions to the creative life of the nation.

"Cilla McQueen is one of New Zealand's leading poets. In addition to her own contribution as a writer and a performer, she has provided significant services to the arts in this country. Ms McQueen is a former Council Member of Creative New Zealand and is actively involved in the Book Council's 'Writers in Schools' programme," Professor Skegg says.

She is also a talented multi-media artist who has collaborated with several of New Zealand's leading composers and artists, including Ralph Hotere.

Born in Birmingham in 1949, Ms McQueen arrived in New Zealand in 1953. She was educated at Columba College and the University of Otago, graduating MA (Hons) in 1970.

She remained in Dunedin pursuing a successful career as a secondary school teacher of French and English alongside her artistic endeavours. Since 1995 she has lived in Bluff.

Writing fellowships awarded to Ms McQueen include: the Fulbright Visiting Writer's Fellowship at Stanford University (1985); the Inaugural Australia-New Zealand Writers' Exchange Fellowship(1987); Goethe Institute Scholarship, Berlin (1988); Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council Scholarship in Letters (1992) and the Southland Art Foundation Artist in Residence (1999).