Sonja Yelich (; born 1965) is a New Zealand poet. She is the mother of
pop singer
Lorde.
Early life
Sonja Yelich () was born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1965, into an immigrant family from the region of
Dalmatia.
She studied literature at the
University of Auckland
, mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work
, established = 1883; years ago
, endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021)
, budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021)
, chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant
, vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...
and became a trained teacher.
Career
Yelich's early poetry was included in ''AUP Poets 2'' (2002). Her first collection of poems, ''Clung'' (Auckland University Press, 2004), won the 2005 Jessie Mackay Award for 'Best First Book of Poetry' at the New Zealand Book Awards. Her poems were chosen for the ''
Best New Zealand Poems'' series in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2008. She was also included in ''New New Zealand Poets in Performance'' (AUP, July 2008), a book that was released with an accompanying
CD.
Yelich's second collection of poetry, ''Get Some'' (AUP, 2008) was a finalist in the
New Zealand Post Book Awards
The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder W ...
. ''Get Some'' focuses on an American
marine named "Edgar" who is serving in Iraq.
In 2010 Yelich received a
Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship (with
Sarah Laing) that allowed her to write full-time in residence at the Sargeson Centre. The Centre is adjacent to the University of Auckland and recipients receive an annual stipend of
NZ$
The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New ...
40,000.
Personal life
As of October 2013, Yelich lives in Auckland with her husband Vic O'Connor. They have four children: daughters Jerry (born 1994), Ella (born 1996, better known as
Lorde), India "Indy" (born 1998), and son Angelo (born 2001). In June 2014, the couple became engaged, and they married on 6 May 2017.
Poetry collections
* ''AUP New Poets 2'' (2002)
* ''Clung'' (2004)
* ''Get Some'' (2008)
References
External links
New Zealand Book Council profileNew Zealand Post Book AwardsAuckland University Press profileBuddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yelich, Sonja
1965 births
Living people
New Zealand people of Croatian descent
New Zealand women poets
People educated at Marist College, Auckland
People from Auckland
University of Auckland alumni
Lorde