Thursday

Writers Read Series (2013): 1





Writers Read Series 2013:
Lunchtime Reading and Discussion -


C. K. Stead



[Photograph: Marti Friedlander (2010)]


Wednesday, March 27th

12 noon-1.00 pm

Round Room
Atrium Building (Ground Floor)
Albany Campus
Massey University


All Welcome!


This is the first this year in our Albany Writers Read series, sponsored by the School of English and Media Studies on Massey's Palmerston North, Wellington, and Albany campuses, and co-hosted here in Auckland by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Our speaker, C. K. Stead, is one of New Zealand's most distinguished and versatile authors: poet, novelist, scholar, critic, and Emeritus Professor at Auckland University. Over a career of more than fifty years, he has published numerous books of poetry, essays and literary criticism, as well as twelve novels and two books of short stories. His Collected Poems 1951-2006, which won a Montana New Zealand Book Award, came out from Auckland University Press in 2008. A memoir of his early life, South West of Eden, appeared in 2009.

Professor Stead will be reading from and discussing his most recent work: his new book of poems The Yellow Buoy: Poems 2007–2012, published last month, and the novel Risk, which appeared late last year.

More about C. K. Stead:




C(hristian) K(arlson) Stead, b. Auckland, 1932, was one of the new NZ poets of the 1950s and ‘60s, and earned an international reputation as a literary critic, particularly with the publication of The New Poetic: Yeats to Eliot, for several decades a standard text on literary Modernism in British universities.



[The New Poetic (1964)]


He was Professor of English at the University of Auckland for twenty years, established a creative writing course there in the 1980s, and took early retirement (aged 53) in 1986 to write full time. He has won the Jessie Mackay Award for poetry, the Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award, the Landfall Readers’ Award (for the best poem in Landfall’s first 15 years of publication), the New Zealand Book Award for fiction (twice), the Katherine Mansfield Menton fellowship, the King’s Lynn Poetry Award, the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writers’ Fellowship, the 2010 International Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine, the 2010 Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award, and a number of other literary awards, as well as Nuffield and Fulbright Travelling Fellowships. His Collected Poems, 1951-2006 was awarded the 2009 Montana New Zealand Book Award for Reference and Anthology.



[poetry]


His novel Smith’s Dream (1971) became Roger Donaldson’s first movie, Sleeping Dogs (which was also Sam Neill’s first movie role). The Secret History of Modernism, published in the U.K. in 2001, was described by the Irish Times as ‘brilliant… as subtle as Jane Austen and as fatalistic as Thomas Hardy’. The Spectator (U.K.) reviewer of his eighth novel, Talking about O’Dwyer, wrote ‘It seems incontestable that C.K.Stead is among the very best contemporary novelists’. More recently, Mansfield (2004) and My Name is Judas (2006) were both shortlisted in the fiction section of the Montana New Zealand Book Awards.



[fiction]


He has also published two collections of short stories, seven books of literary criticism, and edited a number of other books, including the Penguin Modern Classics selection of Katherine Mansfield’s Letters and Journals, and the Collected Stories of Maurice Duggan. His work is represented in all major New Zealand anthologies of poetry and short fiction of the past several decades.



[Katherine Mansfield]


His novels are published simultaneously in New Zealand and the U.K. and have been variously translated into French, German, Spanish, Swedish, Portuguese and Croatian. He was awarded the C.B.E. in 1985 for services to New Zealand literature, elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1995, an Honorary Visiting Fellow of St John’s College, Oxford, in 1997, and awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Letters by the University of Bristol in 2001. He was made a Member of the Order of New Zealand in 2007.



[non-fiction]


His twelfth novel, Risk, was published in November 2012, and his sixteenth book of poems, The Yellow Buoy: Poems 2007–2012, in February 2013.



[Book Self]


He is married with three children.

Contact Person for this event:

Dr Jack Ross
English Lecturer
Atrium L2.32
School of English and Media Studies
Pvt Bag 102 904
North Shore Mail Centre
Albany Campus
Phone: 414-0800 x 43338
Massey University

__________________________________________

Write-ups & Responses:

  1. Sonia Yoshioka-Braid, Massey News (20 March, 2013):

    C. K. Stead presents his poetry at Writers Read

    One of New Zealand’s best-known authors, C.K. Stead, is guest speaker at the first event in Massey University’s 2013 Writers Read series, at Albany on March 27.

    The distinguished poet, novelist, scholar, critic and Emeritus Professor at Auckland University, has a career spanning more than 50 years.

    Professor Stead will be reading from and discussing his most recent work: his new book of poems The Yellow Buoy: Poems 2007 - 2012, published last month, and the novel Risk, which was published in late 2012.

    He has published numerous books of poetry, essays and literary criticism, as well as 12 novels and two books of short stories. His Collected Poems 1951-2006, published by Auckland University Press, appeared in 2008. A memoir of his early life, South West of Eden, appeared in 2009.

    Professor Stead’s lecture will be held in the Round Room of the Atrium Building on Wednesday March 27, starting at 12 noon. It is free to anyone wishing to attend.

    Writers Read is an annual series of readings by some of New Zealand’s foremost authors, with events held on all three Massey campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North and Wellington. Sponsored by the School of English and Media Studies, the Palmerston North City Library and the Office of the Campus Registrar, Wellington, the series started as a partnership with the Palmerston North City Library eight years ago.

    For more information on the Writers Read series, go to: http://albanywritersread.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/writers-read-series-2013-1.html

    Future Dates for Writers Read Series at Albany

    May 1 – Sue Orr – at the Study Centre Staff Lounge, Albany
    August 7 – Robert Sullivan – at the Study Centre Staff Lounge, Albany
    25 September – Student and staff event – at the Study Centre Staff Lounge, Albany
    .


  2. Jack Ross & C. K. Stead (27/3/13)
    [photograph: Jennifer Little]


  3. Christine O'Brien, Auckland University Press News (25 March, 2013):

    C. K. Stead at Albany Writers Read

    27 March 2013

    12–1pm

    Venue: Study Centre Staff Lounge - Round Room, Atrium Building (Ground Floor), Massey Albany

    Host: Massey Albany

    Cost: Free event

    Contact info: Dr Jack Ross

    Contact email: j.r.ross@massey.ac.nz

    Website: Albany Writers Read

    The Albany Writers Read series kicks off for 2013 with C. K. Stead in a lunchtime reading from and discussion about his newly published collection of poems, The Yellow Buoy.

    C. K. Stead was born in Auckland in 1932. From the late 1950s, he began to earn an international reputation as a poet and literary critic and, later, as a novelist. He has published more than 40 books and received numerous prizes and honours recognising his contribution to New Zealand literature, including in 2009 the Prime Minister’s Award for Fiction and the Montana New Zealand Book Award (Reference and Anthology) for his Collected Poems , and in 2010 the Sunday Times /EFG Private Bank Award for the short story, and the Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine. He received our highest award, the Order of New Zealand, in 2007.



  4. Jack & Karl


  5. Jennifer Little, Massey News (26 March, 2013):

    NZ literary stars at Massey in Writers Read series

    Fancy a short story with your sandwiches, a prize-winning poem with your panini? A stellar line-up of New Zealand’s literary talent – including C.K. Stead and Emily Perkins – has been confirmed for this year’s Writers Read series, which runs at lunchtimes on all three campuses.

    The series kicks off this Wednesday, March 27 with renowned poet, novelist, literary scholar and critic C.K. Stead reading from his latest poetry collection and his latest novel at the Albany campus.

    He is one of seven writers who will give readings at Massey’s three campuses in the coming months. Short story writer Sue Orr will read at Albany on May 1, and poet Robert Sullivan on August 7.

    C. K. Stead is one of New Zealand's most distinguished and versatile authors. Over a career of more than 50 years, he has published numerous books of poetry, essays and literary criticism, as well as 12 novels and two books of short stories. His Collected Poems 1951-2006, which won a Montana New Zealand Book Award, came out from Auckland University Press in 2008. A memoir of his early life, South West of Eden, appeared in 2009.

    Professor Stead will be reading from and discussing his most recent work: his new book of poems The Yellow Buoy: Poems 2007–2012, published last month, and the novel Risk, which appeared late last year.

    Creative Writing lecturer Dr Jack Ross says Massey students and staff are “exceptionally privileged to be able to listen to such a multi-talented and internationally acclaimed writer here in our own backyard.

    “I think it will be inspirational for our writing students to see just how much can be accomplished if you set your sights high enough. Academics, too, will be interested to hear that C. K. Stead gave up a tenured position at the Auckland English Department to become a full-time writer. Now people all over the world are reading his work!”

    At the Manawatü campus, literary fans can hear poetry by this year’s Visiting Artist Helen Lehndorf on April 24, followed by award-winning novelist Emily Perkins on May 17 and poet Anna Jackson on August 16. Perkins won the Montana Medal for Fiction at the 2009 Montana New Zealand Book Awards for Novel About my Wife (Bloomsbury 2008), and her latest book The Forrests (Bloomsbury, 2012) has received critical acclaim.

    Writers at the Wellington campus include Helen Lehndorf on April 17, and playwright Jo Randerson on May 15.

    The series will conclude in September with panel discussions at the Manawatü and Wellington campuses, as well as a staff and student event at Albany. The series is sponsored by the School of English and Media Studies, Palmerston North City Library, and the Office of the Campus Registrar at the Wellington campus.

    For more information on venues, go to: http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/learning/departments/school-english-media-studies/about/events/writers-read.cfm

    C.K. Stead will be in the Atrium Round Room at 12 noon on Wednesday, March 27.



  6. [Jessica Frank: In Good Stead (2013)]


  7. Jessica Frank, "In Good Stead." Massive 2 (2013): 7.

    In Good Stead

    On March 27, students and staff alike gathered in an intimate fashion with hot cross buns and refreshments in hand. The first of the Writers Read series was due to commence at the stroke of noon, and we were soon to be introduced to C.K Stead.

    C.K Stead is an academic, a novelist, a poet, a critic, and a front-runner in the New Zealand literary world. As he walked on stage and stood behind the Massey University podium, one could appreciate that age sat wary on his shoulders. Despite this, he began to speak of his career and his journey as a writer with confidence and care. His literary success is one which has branched itself out of our small-niche country and found itself growing shoots overseas. He has been a figure in New Zealand literature since the 1950’s, and in 2013 he reads from his newly published novel and his new anthology of poems.

    Stead is best known for his novel Smith’s Dream (1971), which was filmed under the title Sleeping Dogs (1977); for his internationally successful novels published in the 1980’s and the early 1990’s, two of which have taken out places in the fiction section of the New Zealand Book Awards; and for his outspoken critique of liberal positions in education, justice, and literary affairs. Sleeping Dogs was also the first New Zealand film to be released into international waters. Though Stead is now a renowned novelist and poet, he began his career as an academic. As one could understand, this presented a great barrier between him and his creative drive, limiting his career as a writer, but also shaping it in chorus. Due to the strenuous environment that a professor must cope with, there was little time for furthering productively. Early on in his career, his reputation as a writer depended heavily on a few poems and a handful of short stories which were widely spread apart, yet widely admired.

    As Stead discussed his academic career he commented that “I could never take university teaching lightly enough – I was sort of shy and afraid of making a goat of myself.” Therefore, he never found it appropriate to take time off, or put in a little less effort. Having a lecturer like this would be great. Though for Stead, this was detrimental to his writing efforts. However, from critics and admirers alike, Stead’s career has displayed verbal prowess allied with inspired discipline, a lively caricature and an ingenious mind for storytelling. Unlike other authors and poets, he has been said to draw upon new ideas and themes in every piece of his work, constantly drawn to innovative challenges. If anyone was to pick up his work now they could see they are incoherently individual and the only obvious theme would be his own personality that streams through the page.

    Another New Zealand writer, Michael Morrissey, referred to Stead as “arguably our most successful literary chameleon.” Stead does not write for the interests and pleasures of others, but invites readers to share in his mind and draws them in with his stories his way, revealing a bit of himself with every turn of a phrase. As a result of this, his writing is fundamentally realist in nature – confessional – a voice that is consistent throughout his works of fiction, criticism and poetry. Though Stead would rather relate himself to an “autobiographical poet”, told through his various personas. His life often bleeds through his work, his friendships, his career, and relationships, and various blunders come under the light in selected poems and novels. He presents his life under a veil of fiction that is alarmingly transparent.

    Through this he displays courage that is not often seen in writers of fiction. He publically digests his past in spite of his critical reputation. The guise of fiction that hangs over his life prevents any sure collaboration between his life and his stories, teasing his readers and critics. As a wishful storyteller myself, I feel as I am not so strange for wanting to tell my stories and my life through the façade of another character. On his writing process, Stead remarked that he was unable to focus on both fiction and poetry simultaneously. “My poetry disappeared through my fiction.” And though his novels have been globally successful, he confessed that “poetry satisfies me the most”. Despite the time and effort needed for novels he believed there is “no other satisfaction that beats writing a poem that truly works.”

    Without a hint of remorse he put the process of poetry as such: “One is an orderly person, and a poem is somewhat disorderly. You get to take this disorderly world and shape it, mould it until you have created something perfect.” During the Q&A session following Stead’s presentation, we managed to gather some insight into Stead himself. Because there is a great stigma about being a writer in New Zealand, this was a great opportunity to ask him about his experience as a Kiwi author. When asked about the advantages and disadvantages, Stead fumbled over his words and jokingly replied: “Well, there must be some advantages, right?” He shared that “when I went overseas on a scholarship and did my PhD and I had the opportunity to stay I can running back. I was so scared that I would get such a taste for it that I wouldn’t ever come back.”

    He said he wanted to be a part of the growth of New Zealand literature – to be a part of something that was only just beginning. He finished by saying that “no matter where you are, you are going to be more aware of the disadvantages than the advantages.” This really spoke volumes to me because it was easy to understand that despite the isolation of our country, the chances are more in favour, and the community seems to be tightly knit, close. Stead’s personality showed through when he was asked where his ideas came from. “Well, who the hell knows, you just hope they come.” When asked if he believed English degrees were relevant to a writing career he insisted that having a great backing, from those who went before was essential for your own writing, And that without it, you have nothing to base your work off, nothing to come from.

    In time, in society where we watch more and read less, work harder and enjoy not as much, and write fewer of the things we want and more of the things we have to, it is hard to imagine being successful in your hobby and making your interests your success. However much being an accomplished writer is a mere pipe dream, Stead is proof that if you are good and it is what you want to do, then you can.



  8. [Massive 2 (2013)]



__________________________________________

Next in this series:

Wednesday, May 1, 2013
12.00-1.00 pm
Study Centre Staff Lounge

Sue Orr


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