Lover of Words Passes

Respected literary scholar and Professor Terry Sturm, who played a leading role in placing New Zealand literature at the centre of the academic curriculum and was awarded a CBE in recognition of his services to literature, has passed away aged 67. Sturm began his distinguished career at The University of Auckland. He undertook postgraduate work at Cambridge University and at the University of Leeds. He then lectured in English Literature at the University of Sydney 1967 -1980, when he left to take a professorial chair at The University of Auckland, an institution he stayed with for 25 years. He edited various standard literary reference works including The Oxford History of New Zealand Literature in English (1990, 1998), the drama section of The Oxford History of Australian Literature and the New Zealand section of the Routledge Encyclopedia of Post-colonial Literatures in English (1994). “Terry Sturm made a major contribution to the study of New Zealand and Australian literature and his scholarship was rightly recognised nationally and  internationally. As an academic, Terry was top of his field; he was also deeply valued as a colleague and friend,” said Professor John Morrow, Dean of the Faculty of Arts.

Terry Sturm: 1941 – 2009