Geoffrey O'Neill Cochrane (1951 – November 2022) was a New Zealand poet, novelist and short story writer. He published 19 collections of poetry, a novel and a collection of short fiction. Many of his works were set in or around his hometown of
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
, and his personal battles with alcoholism were a frequent source of inspiration.
Life and career
Cochrane was born in
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
in 1951 and attended
St Patrick's College.
His family were
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
,
and he has described his father as a "frustrated painter" who worked for New Zealand's betting organisation, the
TAB.
His first five poetry collections were published by private presses, beginning with ''Images of Midnight City'' in 1976.
He began to write full-time in 1990, after giving up alcohol.
In 1992 a collection of poems from his earlier collections, plus 27 new poems, was published as ''Aztec Noon'' by
Victoria University Press
Te Herenga Waka University Press or THWUP (formerly Victoria University Press) 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.
History
Vi ...
(VUP).
His publicist at VUP,
Kirsten McDougall, noted "his work was widely ignored by those who give out prizes and seats at festivals".
The ''Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature'' describes his poetry as "spare in form and precise in language", and of an "often melancholy mood".
Alcoholism and Wellington often feature in his poetry.
Cochrane published two novels, ''Tin Nimbus'' (1995) and ''Blood'' (1997). Both are about an alcoholic's experiences with institutions in late 1970s Wellington,
reflecting Cochrane's personal experiences.
''Tin Nimbus'' was a regional finalist in the 1996
Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...
for best first book.
A review of ''Blood'' for ''
The Sunday Star-Times
The ''Sunday Star-Times'' is a New Zealand newspaper published each weekend in Auckland. It covers both national and international news, and is a member of the New Zealand Press Association and Newspaper Publishers Association of New Zealand. ...
'' said Cochrane "has injected into this full-blooded novel the futility and bewilderment, the fear and loathing, of everyday life"; ''
The Evening Post'' compared it to the later work of
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation.
Of French-Canadian a ...
. Of his short fiction, collected in ''Astonished Dice'' (2014), reviewer Grant Smithies for ''The Sunday Star Times'' has said Cochrane "has a poet's economy with language, an alcoholic's understanding of pain, a lapsed Catholic's feel for mystery; a cinematographer's eye for a strong image".
In 2009 he was awarded the Janet Frame Prize for Poetry.
In eight out of the twelve years from 2003 to 2014, and in 2019 and 2020, his poems were selected for the online anthology
''Best New Zealand Poems''.
His 2007 entry in the anthology, "Chemotherapy", was written about the death of New Zealand author
Nigel Cox. In 2010 he received the first Nigel Cox
Unity Books
Unity Books is an independent New Zealand bookseller. It has a flagship store in Wellington, and a location in Auckland with separate adult and children's bookshops.
The business was founded by Alan Preston in 1967.
Wellington store
In 2012, the ...
Award.
In 2014 Cochrane was made an
Arts Foundation of New Zealand
'The Arts Foundation of New Zealand Te Tumu Toi is a New Zealand arts organisation that supports artistic excellence and facilitates private philanthropy through raising funds for the arts and allocating it to New Zealand artists.
The concept ...
Laureate as one of New Zealand's "most outstanding practising artists".
Cochrane died at his home in Wellington in November 2022, aged 71.
New Zealand's poet laureate
Chris Tse wrote a poem in tribute titled "Starship (version)".
Selected works
Poetry collections
* ''Images of Midnight City'' (1976)
* ''Solstice'' (1979, with Victoria Broome and Lindsay Rabbitt)
* ''The Sea the Landsman Knows'' (1980)
* ''Taming the Smoke'' (1983)
* ''Kandinsky's Mirror'' (1989)
* ''Aztec Noon'' (1992)
* ''Into India'' (1999)
* ''Acetylene'' (2001)
* ''Vanilla Wine'' (2003)
* ''White Nights'' (2004)
* ''Hypnic Jerks'' (2005)
* ''84-484'' (2007)
* ''Pocket Edition'' (2009)
* ''The Worm in the Tequila'' (2010)
* ''The Bengal Engine's Mango Afterglow'' (2012)
* ''Wonky Optics'' (2015)
* ''Rededits'' (2017)
* ''The Black and the White'' (2019)
* ''Chosen'' (2020)
Other work
* ''Tin Nimbus'' (1995, novel)
* ''Blood'' (1997, novel)
* ''Astonished Dice'' (2014, short fiction)
References
External links
Profileon
Read NZ Te Pou Muramura
Read NZ Te Pou Muramura (formerly the New Zealand Book Council) is a not-for-profit organisation that presents a wide range of programmes to promote books and reading in New Zealand.
History
It was established in 1972 as a response to UNESCO's ...
website
Interview of Cochraneby
Damien Wilkins
Damien Lamont Wilkins (born January 11, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player and basketball executive who played in the National Basketball Association for ten seasons. He is the General Manager and Head of Basketball at Ov ...
in the spring 2003 issue of
''Sport''
"Chemotherapy" poem by Cochrane published in ''Best New Zealand Poems'' (2007)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cochrane, Geoff
1951 births
2022 deaths
20th-century New Zealand poets
20th-century New Zealand novelists
20th-century New Zealand short story writers
20th-century New Zealand male writers
21st-century New Zealand poets
21st-century New Zealand novelists
21st-century New Zealand short story writers
21st-century New Zealand male writers
People from Wellington City
People educated at St. Patrick's College, Wellington