Making Poetry Out of Darkness

A profile of novelist, poet and critic CK Stead focuses on both his historical prominence in the NZ literary scene and his remarkable late-life burst of creativity. Last year, Stead (74) published his eleventh novel – My Name Was Judas – to widespread critical acclaim. James Wood, senior editor at the New Republic and Harvard professor of literary criticism, praised “Stead’s deft marshalling of the language, the way he gets words to do his bidding throughout without ever being obvious or showing off.” Stead’s latest release is a collection of poetry titled The Black River. Guardian reviewer Nicholas Wroe commends its “clever wordplay,” particularly that found in the  “odd and disturbing” poem S-T-R-O-K-E, which Stead wrote while bedridden and “in the dark” after suffering a minor stroke. Finally, Stead has edited and provided commentary for the collected correspondence between himself and his fellow NZ writers Frank Sargeson and Allen Curnow. All three projects have been undertaken with the help of the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writers’ Fellowship.