Alistair Te Ariki Campbell
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Alistair Te Ariki Campbell
ONZM 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 rend ...
(25 June 1925 – 16 August 2009) was a poet, playwright, and novelist. Born in the
Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...
, he was the son of a Cook Island Māori mother and a
Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non- Māori New Z ...
father, who both died when he was young, leading to him growing up in a New Zealand orphanage. He became a prolific poet and writer, with a lyrical and romantic style tempered by a darkness borne out of his difficult childhood and struggles with mental health as a young adult. Although he wrote about Māori culture from his earliest works, after a revelatory return to the Cook Islands in 1976, his later works increasingly featured Pasifika culture and themes. He received a number of notable awards during his lifetime including the New Zealand Book Award for Poetry and
Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement is a New Zealand literary award established in 2003 by the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand), the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government. Each ...
, and is considered one of New Zealand's foremost poets as well as a pioneer of Pasifika literature written in English.


Early life and career

Campbell was born in Rarotonga, on 25 June 1925, and spent his early years on
Penrhyn atoll Penrhyn (also called Tongareva, Māngarongaro, Hararanga, and Te Pitaka) is an atoll in the northern group of the Cook Islands in the south Pacific Ocean. The northernmost island in the group, it is located at north-north-east of the capital ...
or Tongareva. His mother, Teu Bosini, was Cook Island Māori, and his father, John Archibald (Jock) Campbell, was a
Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non- Māori New Z ...
New Zealander of Scottish descent. His father was a former
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
soldier who worked on the island as a successful trader. In 1932, when Campbell was seven, his mother died from what may have been
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
. The following year, his father also died after becoming an alcoholic. Campbell was sent with his younger brother, Bill, to live with their grandmother in
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 ...
, in the South Island of New Zealand. She already had care of their two older siblings. She was however unable to cope with the four children given the Great Depression and sent the children to an
orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or ab ...
in 1934, where Campbell spent the next six years. In later life, he said that he did not remember the years after his father's death due to his grief. Although he spoke little English at the time of the move to New Zealand, he quickly learnt, and found the books in the orphanage to be a refuge from his feelings of abandonment. He attended
Otago Boys' High School , motto_translation = "The ‘right’ learning builds a heart of oak" , type = State secondary, day and boarding , established = ; years ago , streetaddress= 2 Arthur Street , region = Dunedin , state = Otago , zipcod ...
, where he did well academically and in sports, but experienced racism from other students due to his Cook Island heritage. He began writing poetry around this time. He studied first 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 ...
and then attended
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 kno ...
off and on between 1944 and 1952, while working various menial jobs to support himself. His oldest brother, Stuart, was killed while serving with the
Māori Battalion The 28th (Māori) Battalion, more commonly known as the Māori Battalion, was an infantry battalion of the New Zealand Army that served during the Second World War. It formed following pressure on the Labour government from some Māori Memb ...
in Italy in 1945. At the University of Otago he became good friends with James K. Baxter, another famous New Zealand poet. In 1949 his poem "The Elegy" was published in ''Landfall'', marking his first significant publication. It was dedicated to his friend Roy Dickson who had died in a mountaineering accident in 1947, having previously accompanied Campbell on trips to central Otago. The poem was set to music by his friend, composer
Douglas Lilburn Douglas Gordon Lilburn (2 November 19156 June 2001) was a New Zealand composer. Early life Lilburn was born in Whanganui and spent his early years on the family sheep farm in the upper Turakina River valley at Drysdale. He attended Waitaki ...
, in 1951. He became a part of the Wellington Group in the 1950s, a group of poets who saw themselves as having a different perspective to
Allen Curnow Thomas Allen Monro Curnow (17 June 1911 – 23 September 2001) was a New Zealand poet and journalist. Life Curnow was born in Timaru, New Zealand, the son of a fourth generation New Zealander, an Anglican clergyman, and he grew up in a relig ...
, another notable New Zealand poet, and through this group became friends with James K. Baxter and others. In this time he was a founder and editor of two literary magazines, ''Hilltop'' and ''Arachne''.


Literary career

Campbell's first poetry collection, ''Mine Eyes Dazzle'', was published in 1950. It was the first book published by the Pegasus Press, and was reprinted in 1951 and 1956. The first part of the book was his poem "The Elegy", and it also featured love poems about unattainable and beautiful women; the title of the book combined both themes, having been taken from a line in ''
The Duchess of Malfi ''The Duchess of Malfi'' (originally published as ''The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy'') is a Jacobean revenge tragedy written by English dramatist John Webster in 1612–1613. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre, ...
'': "Cover her face; mine eyes dazzle; she died young". His writing was known for being lyrical and romantic in style, if somewhat dark, and his early poetry did not mention his Cook Islands heritage. In 1953 he graduated from Victoria with a Bachelor of Arts, and the following year he obtained a teaching diploma from Wellington Teachers' College. In 1952 he married his first wife, the poet
Fleur Adcock 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 doc ...
; they had two sons but divorced six years later. The two remained on good terms in later years. After obtaining his teaching diploma, Campbell taught for a short period at Newtown School in Wellington, and subsequently became the editor of the ''
New Zealand School Journal The ''New Zealand School Journal'' is a periodical children's educational publication in New Zealand. Founded in 1907 by the Department of Education, it is one of the world's longest-running publications for children. Since 2013 it has been pub ...
'' from 1955 to 1972. He married his second wife, Aline Margaret (Meg) Anderson, in 1958; she was a young actress who would later become a poet herself, and they had a son and two daughters together. In 1961 they moved to Pukerua Bay near Wellington, and would live there for the rest of their lives. In the same year he wrote a novel for children, ''The Happy Summer'' (1961). During his early working life Campbell experienced some mental breakdowns as he recovered from his childhood experiences, and his wife also suffered from severe post-natal depression. These experiences led him to turn to writing and explore his troubles in poetry; in a 1969 interview he said: "It was almost as if the springs of creativity had become iced over ... my nervous breakdown cracked the ice and allowed the spring to flow once more." He was also inspired by New Zealand's history, with a sequence in the collection ''Sanctuary of Spirits'' (1963) featuring narration by the nineteenth-century
Ngāti Toa Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori '' iwi'' (tribe) based in the southern North Island and in the northern South Island of New Zealand. Its '' rohe'' (tribal area) extends from Whanganui in the north, Palmerston ...
leader
Te Rauparaha Te Rauparaha (c.1768 – 27 November 1849) was a Māori rangatira (chief) and war leader of the Ngāti Toa tribe who took a leading part in the Musket Wars, receiving the nickname "the Napoleon of the South". He was influential in the origina ...
. In 2001 the sequence was adapted into a ballet and performed as part of the Kapiti Arts Festival. His third collection, ''Wild Honey'', was published by
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
in 1964. In addition to some new works, it featured some of his earlier poems revised and rearranged for overseas readers. His biographer Nelson Wattie said of the work that "old poems are blended harmoniously with new, so that, more than a retrospective, ''Wild Honey'' suggests a future for the poet secure on the foundations he had laid and ... a determination to overcome the obstacles his illness had created by stretching the bow between future and past". In 1965 his poem "The Return" was set to music by
Douglas Lilburn Douglas Gordon Lilburn (2 November 19156 June 2001) was a New Zealand composer. Early life Lilburn was born in Whanganui and spent his early years on the family sheep farm in the upper Turakina River valley at Drysdale. He attended Waitaki ...
, and was Lilburn's first major electronic work. In 1976, a formative experience in Campbell's life occurred when he returned to Tongareva, together with his younger brother Bill, and rediscovered his Polynesian heritage and family. The trip had been inspired by a letter Campbell had found in the late 1970s, written by his grandfather to Campbell and his siblings in 1933, which expressed love for them and asked them not to forget their family in Tongareva. He said of the return: "Suddenly, we had a family again. As a long-lost son, I was wept over by old ladies, wailing 'Aue!' I also had the clear sensation my mother was there, waiting." From this trip onwards he used his full name, Alistair Te Ariki Campbell. The middle name "Te Ariki" was part of his birth name and meant that his family was of high rank. He had stopped using the name after his move to New Zealand. His Polynesian heritage, which he had begun exploring in the 1960s, from then on became central to his writing and poetry. His 1980 collection, ''The Dark Lord of Savaiki'', focussed on his ancestors through his mother's side, in particular his grandfather, and his feelings as he came to terms with his heritage. In 1984 he wrote a memoir, ''Island to Island'', which traced his life through his childhood in Tongareva and his later return. From 1972 until 1987 Campbell was the senior editor at the New Zealand Council for Educational Research. From 1987 onwards, Campbell wrote full-time. In addition to his poetry, Campbell also wrote plays such as ''The Suicide'' (1966) and ''When the Bough Breaks'' (1970), edited a radio programme about poetry in 1958, wrote a trilogy of novels (''The Frigate Bird'' (1989), ''Sidewinder'' (1991) and ''Tia'' (1993)), and wrote more novels for children such as ''Fantasy with Witches'' (1998). He also tutored creative writing, and in the late 1970s, was the President of the New Zealand PEN Centre, the New Zealand branch of
PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internatio ...
. In 1979 he toured New Zealand with
Sam Hunt Sam Lowry Hunt (born December 8, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Born in Cedartown, Georgia, Hunt played football in his high school and college years and once attempted to pursue a professional sports career before signing with MCA ...
, Hone Tūwhare and
Jan Kemp Jan Kemp may refer to: *Jan Kemp (general) Jan Christoffel Greyling Kemp (10 June 1872 – 31 December 1946) was a South African Boer officer, rebel general, and politician. Early life Jan Kemp was born in the present Amersfoort district, Tra ...
.


Later life and legacy

Campbell wrote about his father's and brother's experiences in wartime in his later life, with the collection ''Gallipoli and Other Poems'' (1999) and a poetic sequence called "Māori Battalion" in 2001. Reviewer Iain Sharp wrote that these later works "rank among his strongest work".
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noted that Campbell continued to find "poetry and peace not in repressing his distant past, but in embracing it and exploring it". After the death of his wife Meg in 2007, Campbell edited a joint collection of their poems called ''It's Love, Isn't It?'' which was published in 2008. It was his final collection; on 16 August 2009 he died in Wellington Hospital. The ''
Dictionary of New Zealand Biography The ''Dictionary of New Zealand Biography'' (DNZB) is an encyclopedia or biographical dictionary containing biographies of over 3,000 deceased New Zealanders. It was first published as a series of print volumes from 1990 to 2000, went online ...
'' says of Campbell that he was "one of New Zealand's most distinctive poetic voices from the 1950s to the 2000s ... His work, which combined lyricism and darkness, was shaped by an idyllic Rarotongan childhood, early family tragedies, childhood exile to New Zealand, and a transformative return to Polynesia in middle age." He received many honours and awards during his career, most notably the New Zealand Book Award for Poetry for his ''Collected Poems'' in 1982, the
Creative New Zealand The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government, investing in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes and developing markets ...
Pacific Islands Artist Award in 1998, an honorary doctorate in literature from Victoria University of Wellington in 1999, and a
Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement is a New Zealand literary award established in 2003 by the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand), the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government. Each ...
in 2005. In the
2005 New Year Honours New Year Honours were granted in the United Kingdom and New Zealand at the start of 2005. Among these in the UK were knighthoods awarded to Mike Tomlinson, the educationalist; Derek Wanless, who led a review of the National Health Service; an ...
, he was made an Officer 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 ...
. On receiving the award, he said: "This finally justifies all those years that I struggled with my demons and chose the path I am still on. This is my wife Meg's recognition and makes all the sacrifices worthwhile." In 2016 his ''Collected Poems'' were published 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 ...
, with Robert Sullivan noting in the foreword that "Campbell's dual Polynesian and Pākehā heritage makes him a foreparent of bicultural and multicultural writing in Aotearoa". Other New Zealand writers like Albert Wendt have cited him as an influence. In April 2020 New Zealand prime minister
Jacinda Ardern Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician who has been serving as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the member of ...
recorded a reading of his poem "Gallipoli Peninsula" as part of Anzac Day commemorations for
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
.


Selected works


Poetry

* 1950: ''Mine Eyes Dazzle: Poems 1947–49'', Christchurch: Pegasus Press * 1951: ''Mine Eyes Dazzle: Pegasus New Zealand Poets 1'', Christchurch: Pegasus Press ("With a Foreword by James K. Baxter") * 1956: ''Mine Eyes Dazzle'', Christchurch: Pegasus Press ("New Revised Edition") * 1963: ''Sanctuary of Spirits'', Wellington: Wai-te-ata Press * 1964: ''Wild Honey'', London: Oxford University Press * 1967: ''Blue Rain: Poems'', Wellington: Wai-te-ata Press * 1972: ''Kapiti: Selected Poems 1947–71'', Christchurch: Pegasus Press * 1975: ''Dreams, Yellow Lions'', Martinborough: Alister Taylor * 1980: ''The Dark Lord of Savaiki: Poems'', Pukerua Bay: Te Kotare Press * 1981: ''Collected Poems 1947–1981'', Martinborough: Alister Taylor * 1985: ''Soul Traps'', Pukerua Bay: Te Kotare Press * 1992: ''Stone Rain: The Polynesian Strain'', Christchurch: Hazard Press * 1995: ''Death and the Tagua'', Wellington: Wai-te-ata Press * 1996: ''Pocket Collected Poems'', Christchurch: Hazard Press * 1999: ''Gallipoli & Other Poems'', Wellington: Wai-te-ata Press * 2001: ''Maori Battalion: A Poetic Sequence'', Wellington: Wai-te-ata Press * 2002: ''Poets in Our Youth: Four Letters in Verse'', being four letters in verse to John Mansfield Thomson,
Harry Orsman Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...
, Pat Wilson and James K. Baxter; Wellington: Pemmican Press * 2005: ''The Dark Lord of Savaiki: Collected Poems'', Christchurch: Hazard Press * 2007: ''Just Poetry'', Wellington: HeadworX * 2008: ''It's Love, Isn't It?'' (with Meg Campbell), Wellington: HeadworX * 2016: ''The Collected Poems of Alistair Te Ariki Campbell'', Wellington: Victoria University Press


Other work

* 1961: ''The Happy Summer'', a novel for children * 1965: ''The Proprietor'', Radio play * 1964: ''The Homecoming'', a radio play * 1966: ''The Suicide'', a radio play * 1970: ''When the Bough Breaks'', a radio play * 1984: ''Island to Island'', memoir * 1989: ''The Frigate Bird'', novel, regional finalist for the
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 ...
* 1991: ''Sidewinder'', novel, Auckland: Reed Books * 1993: ''Tia'', novel, Auckland: Reed Books * 1998: ''Fantasy With Witches'', novel


Notes


External links


Author profile
on
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Biography at the New Zealand Electronic Poetry Centre

Recordings of poems
in the
Poetry Archive The Poetry Archive is a free, web-based library formed to hold recordings of English language poets reading their own work. The Archive holds over 20000 poems and keeps the recordings safe and accessible so that current and future visitors can ...

''Elegy for Alistair''
short documentary about Campbell's life by his granddaughter Julia Campbell {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Alistair Te Ariki 1925 births 2009 deaths Cook Island Māori people People from Rarotonga 20th-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights New Zealand male poets New Zealand people of Scottish descent Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Victoria University of Wellington alumni 20th-century New Zealand novelists 20th-century New Zealand poets 20th-century New Zealand male writers 21st-century New Zealand poets New Zealand male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century New Zealand male writers Pukerua Bay Residents