Peter Simpson awarded Creative NZ Michael King Fellowship

Faculty of Arts academic and acclaimed writer Dr Peter Simpson has been awarded the 2012 Creative New Zealand Michael King Writer’s Fellowship.

Dr Simpson will use his fellowship to work on a new project ‘Bloomsbury South’, a study of the extraordinarily rich and fertile artistic scene in Christchurch in the mid-twentieth century, a vital phase of our cultural history. In this period, he says, Christchurch can arguably be claimed to have been the leading centre in New Zealand in literature, the visual arts, music, publishing and theatre.

“I am delighted to be offered this generous fellowship, which will enable me to undertake a project I’ve thought about for years,” Dr Simpson says. “The new book will be a cross-disciplinary study of the network of relationships between poets, painters, musicians, playwrights and publishers that created a vital phase of our cultural history.”

The Michael King Writer’s Fellowship 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.

Dr Simpson is a former Head of English at The University of Auckland. He 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.

Dr Simpson is also co-founder and part-time director of the Holloway Press at The University of Auckland, which publishes limited edition books of scholarly or artistic merit.

“Peter Simpson is one of this country’s intellectual giants,” says Auckland University Press director Sam Elworthy. “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.”