Damien Wilkins (writer)

Damien Wilkins
Born	1963 (age 61–62) Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand
Occupation	Novelist short story writer poet
Nationality	New Zealand
Education	Victoria University of Wellington Washington University in St. Louis (MFA)
Notable awards	Whiting Award (1992)

Damien Wilkins (born 1963 in 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.

Life

He 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 played in the band the Jonahs in the 1980s. ^[8]

Awards

• 1989 Heinemann Reed Fiction Award
• 1992 Whiting Award
• 1994 New Zealand Book Award for Fiction
• 2013 Arts Foundation of New Zealand Laureate Award ^[9]
• 2020 Young Adult Fiction Award, New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults ^[10]
• 2025 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at Ockham New Zealand Book Awards ^[11]

Works

Novels

• The Miserables. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press.
  • American edition . New York: Harcourt Brace & Co. 1993. ISBN   978-0-15-160523-1.
• Little Masters Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press, 1996
  • American edition. New York: Henry Holt. 1997. ISBN   978-0-8050-4951-0.
• Nineteen Widows under Ash. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press, 2000. ISBN   9780864733955.
• Chemistry. Granta. 2002. ISBN   978-1-86207-549-8.
• The Fainter. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press, 2006. ISBN   9780864735300.
• Somebody Loves Us All. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press, 2009. ISBN   9780864736161.
• Max Gate. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press, 2013. ISBN   9780864738998.
• Dad Art. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press, 2016. ISBN   9781776560561.
• Lifting. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press, 2017. ISBN   9781776561025.
• Aspiring. Auckland, New Zealand: Massey University Press, 2020. ISBN   978-0-9951229-4-9
• Delirious, Wellington, New Zealand: Te Herenga Waka University Press, 2024. ISBN 9781776922086

Short stories

• The Veteran Perils. Auckland, New Zealand: Heinemann Reed. 1990. ISBN   978-0-7900-0124-1.
• For everyone concerned and other stories. Victoria University Press. 2008. ISBN   978-0-86473-559-1.

Poetry

• The Idles. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press. 1993. ISBN   978-0-86473-253-8.

Anthologies

• Jenny Bornholdt; Gregory O'Brien; Mark Williams, eds. (1997). An anthology of New Zealand poetry in English. Oxford University Press New Zealand. ISBN   978-0-19-558338-0.

Plays and scripts

• Duggan. Television series. ^[12]
• Insiders Guide to Happiness. Television series. ^[12]
• Drinking Games. Stage play. ^[12]

Editor

• Great Sporting Moments: The best of Sport magazine 1988-2004, Victoria University Press, 2005.

Albums

• Group Hug (Austin, 2011)
• The Lines Are Open (Austin, 2014)

References

1. "Damien Wilkins". The Conversation. 6 January 2014. Archived from the original on 2022-08-08. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
2. "Wilkins, Damien". Read NZ Te Pou Muramura. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
3. Adam, Philipa (2021-05-06). At the Service of the Unusual: Ways to Write the Built Environment (Doctoral thesis). Open Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington. Archived from the original on 2022-11-28. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
4. Arathimos, Michalia (2021-05-18). Fracture: The reception of the 'other' author in Aotearoa (Doctoral thesis). Open Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington. Archived from the original on 2022-11-28. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
5. Fenster, Giovanna (2016-01-01). Feverish: Self-Induced Fever and the Creative Mind (Doctoral thesis). Open Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington. Archived from the original on 2022-11-28. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
6. "Our history | International Institute of Modern Letters". Victoria University of Wellington. 13 December 2018. Archived from the original on 22 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
7. "Damien Wilkins | NZETC". Archived from the original on 2010-05-23. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
8. "The Close Readers". Wellington Music. Archived from the original on 2019-05-09. Retrieved 2018-12-09. "The Close Readers". Wellington. Archived from the original on 2019-05-09. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
9. "Damien Wilkins | Arts Foundation Laureate". Arts Foundation. Archived from the original on 2020-09-18. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
10. "NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2020 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 2020-08-13. Archived from the original on 2020-09-19. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
11. Lardies, Gabi; Mabey, Claire (15 May 2025). "Ockham award-winning novel Delirious by Damien Wilkins, reviewed". The Spinoff. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
12. "Damien Wilkins". Playmarket New Zealand. Archived from the original on 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2020-03-17.

External links

• Profile at The Whiting Foundation
• Antonella Sarti (1998). "Damien Wilkins". Spiritcarvers. Rodopi. ISBN   978-90-420-0703-1.