John Dickson (New Zealand poet)

New Zealand poet (1944–2017)

John Dickson

Born| (1944-08-08)8 August 1944
Milton, New Zealand
Died| 4 February 2017(2017-02-04) (aged 72)
Alma mater| University of Otago
Genre| Poetry
Notable awards| Robert Burns Fellowship

John David Dickson (8 August 1944 – 4 February 2017) was a New Zealand poet. A 1988 recipient of the Robert Burns Fellowship, he published three books of poetry and was the 2000 writer in residence at the University of Waikato.

## Background

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Dickson was born in Milton in South Otago in 1944. His father, Walter Dickson, was a farm worker. His mother, Margaret Dickson, was a music teacher; she died when her son was 14. Dickson had one brother, 15 years his senior. He received his education at Southland Boys' High School in Invercargill and graduated from the University of Otago in Dunedin with a Bachelor of Arts with a major in English. He then trained as a librarian in Wellington and worked at Otago Polytechnic's Bill Robertson Library until he was made redundant in 2007. He then followed his partner, Jen Uren, whom he had known since their teenage years, to Christchurch where she had moved to in 1990. In Christchurch, Dickson worked at the Millennium Hotel as a kitchen hand and as an undertaker for Heritage Funeral Services. He developed bowel cancer and died on 4 February 2017.[1][2]

## Career

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Dickson started writing poetry as a teenager, initially influenced by Vladimir Mayakovsky and T. S. Eliot, and later Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Blaise Cendrars, and Francis Ponge. In the late 1960s, he was a co-editor of the literary journal Morepork. It was only in 1986 that he published his first collection of poems, What Happened on the Way to Oamaru. He was awarded the Robert Burns Fellowship by his alma mater in 1988. His next publication, Butan, was an audio cassette in 1991. His next collection of poems, Sleeper, was published by Auckland University Press in 1998.[3] Most of the poems in Sleeper were written or started during his Robert Burns Fellowship. Dickson was the writer in residence at the University of Waikato in 2000.[4] In 2009, Dickson published a CD entitled Plain Song. His final collection of poetry, Mister Hamilton (2016), was named after his cat.[2][5][6] Dickson's Mister Hamilton was discussed on 3 December 2016 by poet Gregory O'Brien with Kim Hill on Radio New Zealand's Saturday Morning show.[7]

## Works

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### Poetry

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* What Happened on the Way to Oamaru (Untold Books, 1986)
* Sleeper (Auckland University Press, 1997)
* Mister Hamilton (Auckland University Press, 2016)

### Audio recordings

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* butan (1991)
* Plain Song (2009)

## References

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1. ^ "John DICKSON Death". The Press. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
2. ^ a b Reeve, Richard (7 April 2018). "Notable Dunedin poetry presence". Otago Daily Times.
3. ^ "John Dickson – 1988". University of Otago. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
4. ^ "Writer in Residence". University of Waikato. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
5. ^ "John Dickson". Auckland University Press. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
6. ^ Green, Paula. "Poetry Shelf Friday talk spot: Bernadette Hall on Mister Hamilton's Library". NZ Poetry Shelf. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
7. ^ "December 2016". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 14 June 2019.

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Robert Burns Fellows

* 1959 Ian Cross
* 1960 Maurice Duggan
* 1961 John Caselberg
* 1962 R.A.K. Mason
* 1963 Maurice Shadbolt
* 1964 Maurice Gee
* 1965 Janet Frame
* 1966–67 James K. Baxter
* 1968 Ruth Dallas
* 1969 Warren Dibble
* 1970 O. E. Middleton
* 1971 Noel Hilliard
* 1972 Ian Wedde
* 1973 Graham Billing
* 1974 Hone Tuwhare
* 1975 Witi Ihimaera
* 1976 Sam Hunt
* 1977 Keri Hulme
* 1977–78 Roger Hall
* 1978 Peter Olds
* 1979 Michael A. Noonan
* 1980 Philip Temple
* 1981–82 William Sewell
* 1983 Rawiri Paratene
* 1984 Brian Turner
* 1985–86 Cilla McQueen
* 1987 Robert Lord
* 1988 John Dickson
* 1989 Renée
* 1990 David Eggleton
* 1991 Lynley Hood
* 1992 Owen Marshall
* 1993 Stuart Hoar
* 1994 Christine Johnston
* 1995 Elspeth Sandys
* 1996 Bernadette Hall
* 1997 Paddy Richardson
* 1998–99 Michael King
* 1999 Paula Boock
* 2000 James Norcliffe
* 2001 Jo Randerson
* 2002 Alison Wong
* 2003 Nick Ascroft
* 2003 Sarah Quigley
* 2004 Kate Duignan
* 2005–06 Catherine Chidgey
* 2006 Dianne Ruth Pettis
* 2007 Laurence Fearnley
* 2008 Sue Wootton
* 2009 Michael Harlow
* 2010 Michele Powles
* 2011 Fiona Farrell
* 2012 Emma Neale
* 2013 David Howard
* 2014 Majella Cullinane
* 2015 Louise Wallace
* 2016 Victor Rodger
* 2017 Craig Cliff
* 2018 Rhian Gallagher
* 2019 Emily Duncan
* 2020 John Newton
* 2021 Becky Manawatu
* 2022 Albert Belz
* 2023 Kathryn van Beek
* 2024 Mikaela Nyman
* 2025 Octavia Cade

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* United States

Other|

* Yale LUX

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