Helen Heath

Last updated

Dr

Helen Heath
Helen Heath.jpg
Born1970 (age 5253)
LanguageEnglish
Alma mater Victoria University of Wellington
GenrePoetry
Notable worksGraft
Notable awardsNZSA Jessie McKay Best First Book Award for Poetry
Website
Official website

Helen Heath (born 1970) is a poet from New Zealand.

Contents

Background

Heath is based in Wellington, New Zealand. [1] She received her MA and PhD in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters, at the Victoria University of Wellington. [2] In 2017 she was publishing programme leader at Whitireia Publishing (part of Whitireia Community Polytechnic). [3]

Works

Heath's poetry explores ideas of science, motherhood and grief, and she draws inspiration from scientists such as Isaac Newton. [2]

Heath's first published work was the chapbook, Watching the Smoke. In 2012 she published her first poetry collection, Graft. [1] Her collection Are Friends Electric? was published in 2018 by Victoria University Press. [4]

Heath has also been published in the Best New Zealand Poems series (2012) [5] and literary journals, including Turbine, [6] Swamp, [7] 4th Floor, [8] and Snorkel. [9]

Awards

Graft won the 2013 NZSA Jessie McKay Best First Book Award for Poetry at the New Zealand Post Book Awards. [10]

The scientific perspective of the poetry in Graft led her poem ‘Making Tea in the Universe’ to win the 2011 inaugural Science Teller Poetry Award. In 2013, the collection became the first book of poetry or fiction work to be shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize. [1] The book was also listed in the New Zealand Listener's Top 100 Books of 2012. [11]

In 2019 Are Friends Electric? won the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. [12]

Related Research Articles

The Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry is an award at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, presented annually to the winner of the poetry category. The winner receives a NZ$10,000 prize.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tusiata Avia</span> New Zealand poet and childrens author

Donna Tusiata Avia is a New Zealand poet and children's author. She has been recognised for her work through receiving a 2020 Queen's Birthday Honour and in 2021 her collection The Savage Coloniser won the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. The Savage Coloniser and her previous work Wild Dogs Under My Skirt have been turned into live stage plays presented in a number of locations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinemoana Baker</span> New Zealand writer and musician

Hinemoana Baker is a New Zealand poet, musician and recording artist, teacher of creative writing and broadcaster.

Harry Ricketts is a poet, biographer, editor, anthologist, critic, academic, literary scholar and cricket writer. He has written biographies of Rudyard Kipling and of a dozen British First World War poets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hera Lindsay Bird</span> New Zealand poet

Hera Lindsay Bird is a New Zealand poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Neale</span> New Zealand novelist and poet

Emma Neale is a novelist and poet from New Zealand.

Louise Wallace is a New Zealand poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary McCallum</span> New Zealand author and journalist

Mary McCallum is a publisher, author and journalist from New Zealand.

Lynn Jenner is a poet and essayist from New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airini Beautrais</span> New Zealand poet and short-story writer (born 1982)

Airini Jane Beautrais is a poet and short-story writer from New Zealand.

Anna Taylor is an author from New Zealand.

Chris Tse is a New Zealand poet, short story writer and editor. His works explore questions of identity, including his Chinese heritage and queer identity. His first full-length poetry collection, How to be Dead in a Year of Snakes, won the Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book of Poetry at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards in 2016. He has been appointed as the New Zealand Poet Laureate from 2022 to 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ingrid Horrocks</span>

Ingrid Horrocks is a creative writing teacher, poet, travel writer, editor and essayist. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand.

Chris Price is a poet, editor and creative writing teacher. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand.

Janis Freegard is a poet and fiction writer. Her work has been widely published in books, anthologies and literary magazines. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand.

Rachel Bush was a New Zealand poet and teacher. Her work was widely published in books, anthologies and literary magazines.

Frankie McMillan is a writer of poetry, fiction and flash fiction. She lives in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Rebecca K Reilly is a New Zealand author. She is of Ngāti Hine and Ngāti Wai descent. Her debut novel Greta & Valdin (2021) received the 2019 Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing. At the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, it was shortlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction and received the Hubert Church prize for the best first book of fiction.

Tayi Tibble is a New Zealand poet. Her poetry reflects Māori culture and her own family history. Her first collection of poetry, Poūkahangatus (2018), received the Jessie Mackay Prize for Poetry at the 2019 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, and was published in the United States and the United Kingdom in 2022. Her second collection, Rangikura, was published in 2021.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Helen Heath". New Zealand Book Council. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  2. 1 2 Somerset, Guy (18 July 2013). "Guy Somerset interviews poet Helen Heath - The Listener". Noted. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  3. "Helen Heath". International Institute of Modern Letters, Victoria University of Wellington. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  4. Heath, Helen (2018). Are friends electric?. Wellington [New Zealand]: Victoria University Press. ISBN   9781776561902. OCLC   1032024266.
  5. "Best New Zealand Poems 2012". nzetc.victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  6. "Turbine | Kapohau 2016". Turbine | Kapohau. 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  7. Heath, Helen. "Plum". Swamp. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  8. "About Us". 4th Floor Literary Journal. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  9. "Snorkel #17: Contents". Snorkel. April 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  10. "Past Winners by Author". New Zealand Book Awards Trust. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  11. "The 100 best books of 2012". The Listener. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  12. "Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2019 Winners Announcement". Creative New Zealand. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.

Official website