At a recent literary festival, C.K. Stead was introduced as “New Zealand’s foremost man of letters.” Stead writes poetry, short stories and novels; he has also worked as a literary critic, reviewer, editor, essayist and university lecturer. While he spent many years teaching in universities, Stead saw his real job as producing poetry and fiction: “in my own mind, since I began writing at the age of fourteen, I have thought of myself as a
writer.” He has published thirteen volumes of poems, ten novels and two books of short stories. He has also produced various critical texts, one of which –
The New Poetic(1964) – has sold over 100,000 copies. Stead’s work has garnered many prizes; he remains the only author to win the New Zealand Book Award for both poetry and fiction. He…
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Citation: Phillipson, Allan. "C. K. Stead". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 October 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4197, accessed 21 November 2024.]
