Cilla McQueen
Encyclopedia
Cilla McQueen is a poet
and three-time winner of the New Zealand Book Award for Poetry
.
when she was four.
She was educated at Columba College
in Dunedin
and University of Otago
( Master's
with Honors in 1970).
, at the southern tip of New Zealand’s South Island. A poet and artist, she has published eleven collections and a CD of her poetry
. In 2010 she was named New Zealand Poet Laureate. She also received the Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement (Poetry) in 2010. Other awards include: NZ Book Award for Poetry 1983, 1989 and 1991; Robert Burns fellowship at Otago University 1985 & 1986; Fulbright Visiting Writer’s Fellowship 1985; Inaugural Australia-New Zealand Writer’s Exchange Fellowship 1987; Goethe Institute Scholarship to Berlin 1988; NZ Queen Elizabeth Arts Council Scholarship in Letters 1992. Her most recent works are a CD of McQueen reading her poems ("A Wind Harp", from Otago University Press) and a 2010 volume of new poems and drawings "The Radio Room" (Otago University Press).
In 1999 McQueen was awarded the Southland Art Foundation Artist in Residence award, which allowed her to develop both poetry and painting simultaneously.
Cilla McQueen's poems include themes of homeland and loss, indigeneity, colonisation and displacement. She writes as a descendant of the colonised on St Kilda in the Hebrides. Her writing also reflects her engagement with the history and present reality of the Maori people of Murihiku.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and three-time winner of the New Zealand Book Award for Poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
.
Early years and Education
McQueen's family moved to New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
when she was four.
She was educated at Columba College
Columba College
Columba College is an integrated presbyterian school in Roslyn, Dunedin, New Zealand. The roll is made up of pupils of all ages...
in Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
and University of Otago
University of Otago
The University of Otago in Dunedin is New Zealand's oldest university with over 22,000 students enrolled during 2010.The university has New Zealand's highest average research quality and in New Zealand is second only to the University of Auckland in the number of A rated academic researchers it...
( Master's
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
with Honors in 1970).
Career
McQueen lives in BluffBluff, New Zealand
Bluff is a town and seaport in the Southland region, on the southern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the southern-most town in New Zealand and, despite Slope Point being further to the south, is colloquially used to refer to the southern extremity of the country...
, at the southern tip of New Zealand’s South Island. A poet and artist, she has published eleven collections and a CD of her poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
. In 2010 she was named New Zealand Poet Laureate. She also received the Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement (Poetry) in 2010. Other awards include: NZ Book Award for Poetry 1983, 1989 and 1991; Robert Burns fellowship at Otago University 1985 & 1986; Fulbright Visiting Writer’s Fellowship 1985; Inaugural Australia-New Zealand Writer’s Exchange Fellowship 1987; Goethe Institute Scholarship to Berlin 1988; NZ Queen Elizabeth Arts Council Scholarship in Letters 1992. Her most recent works are a CD of McQueen reading her poems ("A Wind Harp", from Otago University Press) and a 2010 volume of new poems and drawings "The Radio Room" (Otago University Press).
In 1999 McQueen was awarded the Southland Art Foundation Artist in Residence award, which allowed her to develop both poetry and painting simultaneously.
Cilla McQueen's poems include themes of homeland and loss, indigeneity, colonisation and displacement. She writes as a descendant of the colonised on St Kilda in the Hebrides. Her writing also reflects her engagement with the history and present reality of the Maori people of Murihiku.
Works
McQueen's work includes a variety of poetry books and poems over the past twenty-five years, including these volumes:- 1982: Homing In
- 1984: Anti Gravity
- 1986: Wild Sweets
- 1988: Benzina
- 1990: Berlin Diary
- 1993: Crikey
- 2000: Markings, Otago University Press
- 2001: Axis, Otago University Press
- 2002: Soundings, Otago University Press
- 2005: Fire-penny, Otago University Press
- 2006: A Wind Harp (compact disc)
- 2010: "The Radio Room", Otago University Press