Damien Wilkins (born 1963 Lower Hutt, New Zealand) is a New Zealand novelist, short story writer, and poet. He is the director of the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington.
He was graduated from Victoria University of Wellington in 1984. He was assistant editor at Victoria University Press in 1988. He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with an MFA. [1] Since 1992 he has been a writing tutor in Wellington, New Zealand. [2] His notable doctoral students have included Pip Adam, [3] Michalia Arathimos, [4] and Gigi Fenster. [5]
Since 2014 he has been the director of the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington. [2] [6]
His work has appeared in Sport . [7]
He is also a singer and songwriter who has released songs through his project the Close Readers. Previously, he had played in the band the Jonahs in the 1980s. [8]
The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards, which ran from 1968 to 1995.
William Manhire is a New Zealand poet, short story writer, emeritus professor, and New Zealand's inaugural Poet Laureate (1997–1998). He founded New Zealand's first creative writing course at Victoria University of Wellington in 1975, founded the International Institute of Modern Letters in 2001, and has been a strong promoter of New Zealand literature and poetry throughout his career. Many of New Zealand's leading writers graduated from his courses at Victoria. He has received many notable awards including a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in 2007 and an Arts Foundation Icon Award in 2018.
Clarence Edward Beeby, most commonly referred to as C.E. Beeby or simply Beeb, was a New Zealand educationalist and psychologist. He was influential in the development of the education system in New Zealand, first as a director of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) from 1936, and then as Director of Education from 1940, initially under the First Labour Government. He also served as ambassador to France and on the UNESCO executive.
Te Herenga Waka University Press or THWUP is the book publishing arm of Victoria University of Wellington, located in Wellington, New Zealand. As of 2022, the press had published around 800 books.
Teresia Teaiwa, was a distinguished award winning I-Kiribati and African-American scholar, poet, activist and mentor. Teaiwa was well-regarded for her ground-breaking work in Pacific Studies. Her research interests in this area embraced her artistic and political nature, and included contemporary issues in Fiji, feminism and women's activism in the Pacific, contemporary Pacific culture and arts, and pedagogy in Pacific Studies. An "anti-nuclear activist, defender of West Papuan independence, and a critic of militarism", Teaiwa solidified many connections across the Pacific Ocean and was a hugely influential voice on Pacific affairs Her poetry remains widely published.
Anne Kennedy is a New Zealand novelist, poet, and filmwriter.
Hone Vivian Kouka is a New Zealand playwright. He has written 13 plays, which have been staged in New Zealand and worldwide including Canada, South Africa, New Caledonia and Britain. Kouka's plays have won multiple awards at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards, the 'Oscars' of New Zealand theatre. Kouka has also worked as a theatre director and producer. In 2009, Kouka was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to contemporary Māori theatre.
Clifton Mark Williams is a New Zealand poet, writer, academic, critic, editor of contemporary New Zealand literature. He holds a MA (Hons) from the University of Auckland and a Ph.D (1983) from the University of British Columbia. He is emeritus Professor of English at Victoria University of Wellington.
The International Institute of Modern Letters is a centre of creative writing based within Victoria University of Wellington. Founded in 2001, the IIML offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses and has taught many leading New Zealand writers. It publishes the annual Ōrongohau | Best New Zealand Poems anthology and an online journal, and offers several writing residencies. Until 2013 the IIML was led by the poet Bill Manhire, who had headed Victoria's creative writing programme since 1975; since his retirement, Damien Wilkins has taken over as the IIML's director.
Rawinia Ruth Higgins is a New Zealand academic whose research focuses on Māori language and culture.
Carmen Dalli is a New Zealand education academic specialising in early childhood education.
Dr Andrew Robert Jack is the former Chief Censor of New Zealand. He held the position from March 2011 to March 2017.
Louise Wallace is a New Zealand poet.
Pip Adam is a novelist, short story writer, and reviewer from New Zealand.
Taki Rua is a theatre organisation based in Wellington, Aotearoa / New Zealand that has produced many contemporary Māori theatre productions. Taki Rua has been going since 1983 and has had several name changes over that time including The New Depot, Depot Theatre and Taki Rua / The Depot. The full current name is Taki Rua Productions. Since inception the mission of Taki Rua has been to showcase work from Aotearoa. Because of this and the longevity of Taki Rua many significant New Zealand actors, directors, writers, designers and producers have part of the history including Riwia Brown, Nathaniel Lees, Rachel House and Taika Waititi.
Giovanna (Gigi) Fenster is a South African-born New Zealand author, creative writing teacher, and law lecturer.
William Leslie Renwick was a New Zealand educationalist. He was educated in Northland and Auckland before training as a teacher at Auckland Teachers' Training College. After working as a teacher and gaining a BA from Victoria University of Wellington, he was appointed as a researcher to the Commission on Education. After a number of school inspector positions within the Department of Education, he was appointed Director-General of Education in 1975. Retiring from the department in 1988, he took up a research position at the Stout Research Centre in Wellington. He performed background research on Treaty of Waitangi claims, and wrote an extensive review for the University of Waikato on their handling of complaints against a doctoral student. He had a variety of committee and board roles in New Zealand and overseas, including as a council member of the University of the South Pacific, a member of the OECD Education Committee, chair of the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO, a member of the governance board for the Commonwealth of Learning, and as a member of the QEII Arts Council and the advisory committee of the historical branch of the Department of Internal Affairs.
Mikaela Nyman is a Finnish-New Zealand novelist, poet, journalist and editor. After an early career in journalism and non-fiction work, she published her first poetry collection in 2019 and her first novel in 2020. The former resulted in her being nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize. Her work has been published in various anthologies and journals, and she was the co-editor of the first anthology of Vanuatu women's writing.
Anthony Lapwood is a New Zealand short story writer. His debut collection Home Theatre, published in 2022, received the Hubert Church Prize for Fiction at the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
Talia Marshall, born 1978, is a New Zealand writer of Māori descent who writes essays, poetry and short stories. She lives in Ōtepoti Dunedin.