Brian Lindsay Turner (born 4 March 1944 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 ...

) is a New Zealand poet and author. He played hockey for New Zealand in the 1960s; senior cricket in Dunedin and

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 was a veteran

road cyclist Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes Recreational cycling, recreational, Road bicycle racing, racing, Bicycle commuting, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, ...

of note. His

mountaineering Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...

experience includes an ascent of a number of major peaks including

Aoraki / Mount Cook Aoraki / Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Its height, as of 2014, is listed as . It sits in the Southern Alps, the mountain range that runs the length of the South Island. A popular tourist destination, it is also a favourite ...

. His writing includes columns and reviews for daily and weekly newspapers, articles, given radio talks, and written scripts for TV programme. His publications include cricket books with his brother

Glenn Turner Glenn Maitland Turner (born 26 May 1947) played cricket for New Zealand and was one of the country's best and most prolific batsmen. He is the current head of the New Zealand Cricket selection panel. Early life Glenn Turner was born in Dun ...

, the former NZ cricket captain, essays, books on fishing, the high country, and eight collections of poetry. His other brother is golfer

Greg Turner Greg Turner (born 21 February 1963) is a New Zealand professional golfer. Turner was born in Dunedin. He attended the University of Oklahoma in the United States but has spent most of his career on the PGA Tour of Australasia and the European ...

. Turner lives in

Oturehua The township of Oturehua is in the Ida Valley of the Maniototo, in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. The settlement stands at 500 metres above sea level, some 25 kilometres from Ranfurly, to which it is connected by both road ...

, a town of 30–40 people in the

Maniototo The Maniototo Plain, usually simply known as The Maniototo, is an elevated inland region in Otago, New Zealand. The region roughly surrounds the upper reaches of the Taieri River and the Manuherikia River. It is bounded by the Kakanui Range t ...

region of Central Otago. He moved there in late 1999.

Awards and recognition

Source: *1979 –

Commonwealth Poetry Prize The Commonwealth Poetry Prize was an annual poetry prize established in 1972, for a first published book of English poetry from a country other than the United Kingdom. It was initially administered jointly by the Commonwealth Institute and the Nat ...

*1985 – J.C. Reid Memorial Prize *1993 –

Montana New Zealand Book Award for Poetry The Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry is an award at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, presented annually to the winner of the poetry category. The winner receives a 10,000 prize. History The New Zealand Book Awards were set up by the New Z ...

*1997 – appointed Canterbury Writer in Residence *2003 – appointed Te Mata Estate

New Zealand Poet Laureate The New Zealand Poet Laureate is a poet appointed by the National Library of New Zealand to represent New Zealand's community of poets, to promote and advocate for poetry, and to produce a number of published works during their two-year tenure as ...

*2009 –

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 Poetry *2010 – Poetry Award for ''Just This'' at 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 ...

*2020 – appointed 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 ...

, for services to literature and poetry, in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours

Selected works

New Zealand Book Council 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 ...

http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/turnerbrian.html

Poetry

*''Ladders of Rain'' (John McIndoe, 1978) *''Ancestors'' (John McIndoe, 1981) *''Listening to the River'' (John McIndoe, 1983) *''Bones'' (John McIndoe, 1985) *''All That Blue Can Be'' (John McIndoe, 1989) *''Beyond'' (John McIndoe, 1992) *''Taking Off'' (Victoria University Press, 2001) *''Footfall'' (Random House, 2005) *''Just This'' (Victoria University Press, 2009) *''Inside Outside'' (Victoria University Press, 2011) *''Elemental: Central Otago Poems''(Godwit/Random House, 2012) *''Night Fishing'' (Victoria University Press, 2016)

Memoir

*''Somebodies and Nobodies'' (Random House, 2002)

References

External links

Interview with Brian Turner
from

New Zealand Listener The ''New Zealand Listener'' is a weekly New Zealand magazine that covers the political, cultural and literary life of New Zealand by featuring a variety of topics, including current events, politics, social issues, health, technology, arts, f ...

of 5–11 March 2005, Vol 197 no 3382 1944 births Living people New Zealand poets New Zealand Poets Laureate New Zealand male poets New Zealand male field hockey players Writers from Dunedin Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit {{NewZealand-fieldhockey-bio-stub