Fleur Adcock (born 10 February 1934) is a New Zealand poet and editor, of English and Northern Irish ancestry, who has lived much of her life in England. She is well-represented in New Zealand poetry anthologies, was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

, and was awarded an OBE in 1996 for her contribution to

New Zealand literature New Zealand literature is literature, both oral and written, produced by the people of New Zealand. It often deals with New Zealand themes, people or places, is written predominantly in New Zealand English, and features Māori culture and the u ...

. In 2008 she was made a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to literature.

Early life

Adcock, the older of two sisters, was born in

Papakura Papakura is a southern suburb of Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, approximately 32 kilometres south of the Auckland CBD. It is under the authority of the Auckland Council. Papakura is a M� ...

to Cyril John Adcock and Irene Robinson Adcock. Her birth name was Kareen Fleur Adcock, but she was known as Fleur and legally changed her name to Fleur Adcock in 1982. She spent eight years of her childhood (1939–1947) in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Adcock studied

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1954 and a

Masters of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1956.

Career

Adcock worked as an assistant lecturer in classics and librarian at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

between 1958 and 1962, and as a librarian at the

Alexander Turnbull Library The National Library of New Zealand ( mi, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa) is New Zealand's legal deposit library charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (''Nat ...

in Wellington between 1962 and 1963. In 1963, she returned to England and took up a post as a librarian at the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

in London. She had already had poems published in a few literary journals in New Zealand at this time. Her first collection of poetry, ''The Eye of the Hurricane'', was published in New Zealand in 1964, and in 1967 ''Tigers'' was her first collection published in Britain. In 1975, Adcock returned briefly to New Zealand for the first time since she had left for London, and on returning to London in 1976, she became a full time writer. She was the Arts Council Creative Writing Fellow at the Charlotte Mason College of Education in

Windermere Windermere (sometimes tautology (language), tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere, Cumbria (town), Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in leng ...

from 1977–1978, followed by the Northern Arts Literary Fellowship at the universities of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

from 1979–1981. Since 1980, Adcock has worked as a freelance writer, living in

East Finchley East Finchley is an area in North London, immediately north of Hampstead Heath. Like neighbouring Muswell Hill it straddles the London Boroughs of Barnet and Haringey, with most of East Finchley falling into the London Borough of Barnet. It ha ...

, north London, a translator and poetry commentator for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Personal life

Alistair Te Ariki Campbell Alistair Te Ariki Campbell ONZM (25 June 1925 – 16 August 2009) was a poet, playwright, and novelist. Born in the Cook Islands, he was the son of a Cook Island Māori mother and a Pākehā father, who both died when he was young, leading to h ...

Barry Crump John Barrie Crump (15 May 1935 – 3 July 1996) was a New Zealand author of semi-autobiographical comic novels based on his image as a rugged outdoors man. Taken together his novels have sold more than a million copies domestically. Crump's 19 ...

Adcock's mother Irene Adcock is also a writer, and her sister

Marilyn Duckworth Marilyn Duckworth (born 10 November 1935) is a New Zealand novelist, poet and short story writer. She has published 16 novels, one novella, a collection of short stories and a collection of poetry. She has also written for television and radio ...

is a novelist.

Poetry collections

* 1964: ''The Eye of the Hurricane'', Wellington: Reed * 1967: ''Tigers'', London: Oxford University Press * 1971: ''High Tide in the Garden'', London: Oxford University Press * 1974: ''The Scenic Route'', London and New York: Oxford University Press * 1979: ''The Inner Harbour'', Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press * 1979: ''Below Loughrigg'', Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe Books * 1983: ''Selected Poems'', Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press * 1986: ''Hotspur: a ballad'', Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe Books * 1986: ''The Incident Book'', Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press * 1988: ''Meeting the Comet'', Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe Books * 1991: ''Time-zones'', Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press * 1997: ''Looking Back'', Oxford and Auckland: Oxford University Press * 2000: ''Poems 1960–2000'', Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe Books * 2010: ''Dragon Talk'', Tarset: Bloodaxe Books * 2013: ''Glass Wings'', Tarset: Bloodaxe Books and Wellington, NZ: Victoria University Press. * 2014: ''The Land Ballot'', Wellington, NZ: Victoria University Press, Tarset: Bloodaxe Books. * 2017: ''Hoard'', Wellington, NZ: Victoria University Press, Hexham: Bloodaxe Books. * 2019: ''Collected Poems'', Wellington, NZ: Victoria University Press, Hexham: Bloodaxe Books.

Edited or translated

* 1982: Editor, ''Oxford Book of Contemporary New Zealand Poetry'', Auckland: Oxford University Press * 1983: Translator, ''The Virgin and the Nightingale: Medieval Latin poems'', Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe Books, * 1987: Editor, ''

Faber Book of 20th Century Women's Poetry The ''Faber Book of Twentieth-Century Women's Poetry'' is a poetry anthology edited by Fleur Adcock and published in 1987 by Faber and Faber. The introduction to the selection of women poets writing in English argues that there is "no particul ...

'', London and Boston: Faber and Faber * 1989: Translator, ''Orient Express: Poems. Grete Tartler'', Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press * 1992: Translator, ''Letters from Darkness: Poems'', Daniela Crasnaru, Oxford: Oxford University Press * 1994: Translator and editor, ''Hugh Primas and the Archpoet'', Cambridge, England, and New York: Cambridge University Press * 1995: Editor (with Jacqueline Simms), ''The Oxford Book of Creatures'', verse and prose anthology, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Awards and honours

* 1961: Festival of Wellington Poetry Award * 1964: New Zealand State Literary Fund Award * 1968: Buckland Award (New Zealand) * 1968: Jessie Mackay Prize (New Zealand) * 1972: Jessie Mackay Prize (New Zealand) * 1976:

Cholmondeley Award The Cholmondeley Awards () are annual awards for poetry given by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom. Awards honour distinguished poets, from a fund endowed by the Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley in 1966. Since 1991 the award has bee ...

(United Kingdom) * 1979: Buckland Award (New Zealand) * 1984: New Zealand National Book Award for ''Selected Poems'' (1983) * 1984: Elected Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

* 1988: Arts Council Writers' Award (United Kingdom) * 1996:

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to literature, in the 1996 New Year Honours * 2006:

Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry is awarded for a book of verse published by someone in any of the Commonwealth realms. Originally the award was open only to British subjects living in the United Kingdom, but in 1985 the scope was extended to in ...

(United Kingdom) for ''Poems 1960–2000'' * 2007: Honorary Doctor of Literature from Victoria University of Wellington * 2008:

, for services to literature, in the

2008 Queen's Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 2008 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's Of ...

References

External links

Profile and analysis, Emory University"Sonnets – Fleur Adcock".
BBC Radio 4 archive. (Audio 5 mins) Friday 30 May 2003
Adcock discussing her ''Selected Poems''
with

Andrew Motion Sir Andrew Motion (born 26 October 1952) is an English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009. During the period of his laureateship, Motion founded the Poetry Archive, an online resource of poems and audio reco ...

. British Library recording. 14 July 1983 (1 hr, audio)
Poetry Archive profile with poems written and audioPortrait at the National Portrait GalleryReview by Herbert Lomas of ''Poems 1960–2000'' by Adcock in ''Ambit'' No 161 – 2000 Interview with Adcock "Final touch" ''The Guardian'' 29 July 2000''Guardian'' book review of ''Dragon Talk'' 15 May 2010
* Archival material at
Honorary graduates list on Victoria University of Wellington websiteFleur Adcock on her life in poetry. ''RNZ'' interview 16 February 2019
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adcock, Fleur 1934 births Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Living people 20th-century New Zealand poets New Zealand women poets People from East Finchley People educated at Wellington Girls' College Victoria University of Wellington alumni New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century New Zealand women writers 21st-century New Zealand poets