William Manhire (born 27 December 1946) is a New Zealand poet, short story writer, emeritus professor, and New Zealand's inaugural Poet Laureate (1997–1998). He founded New Zealand's first creative writing course at Victoria University of Wellington in 1975, founded the International Institute of Modern Letters in 2001, and has been a strong promoter of New Zealand literature and poetry throughout his career. Many of New Zealand's leading writers graduated from his courses at Victoria. He has received many notable awards including a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in 2007 and an Arts Foundation Icon Award in 2018.
The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature (2006) states that he is "recognised as among the two or three finest New Zealand poets of his generation", and literary critic Peter Simpson has observed that Manhire has "probably done more to widen the audience for poetry in New Zealand than any other individual".
Early life
Manhire was born in Invercargill. His mother was from Scotland with a degree in science, and his father was a publican; they had met and married during World War II, and his mother sailed to New Zealand on a ship of war brides on Valentine's Day in 1946. In his memoir Under the Influence (2003), he described growing up in different small town South Island pubs. He attended Otago Boys' High School, and later the University of Otago in Dunedin where he received his B.A. in 1967, his M.A. (with honours) in 1968, and his M.Litt. in 1970. He went on to study Norse sagas at University College London (1970–73, M.Phil.).
As a young writer, Manhire sent some poetry to Charles Brasch; of this work, Manhire later said, "I can't remember the exact contents, but I think they had lines like 'I stalk the streets of the midnight city' and were full of soiled sheets and neon and terrible things like that". He said he was "enormously encouraged" by Brasch's response, which encouraged him to keep trying and to take himself seriously as a writer. Other writers Manhire met in Dunedin included Iain Lonie, Trevor Reeves and James K. Baxter.
Career
In the 1960s, while still an undergraduate at the University of Otago, Manhire had his first poems published in New Zealand journals, including notably the journal Landfall, then edited by Robin Dudding. While studying in London in the early 1970s he had poems published in British magazines. His first book was a poem, Malady, published in 1970. It consisted of just four words ("malady", "melody" and "my lady") arranged in patterns on the page, accompanied by drawings by artist Ralph Hotere, who had met Manhire in Dunedin while he was the Frances Hodgkins Fellow. Manhire's second book, The Elaboration (1972), was also a collaboration with Hotere, and was published by Charles Brasch and Janet Paul. Around this time, and while living in London, Manhire and fellow poet Kevin Cunningham set up the Amphedesma Press to publish their own and their friends' work, including poetry books by Ian Wedde and Bob Orr.
In 1973, after returning to New Zealand, Manhire began lecturing in the English department of Victoria University of Wellington, where he founded New Zealand's first creative writing course in 1975. His creative writing course, which he taught for more than 25 years, had a major influence on New Zealand literature, with many well-known New Zealand writers having graduated, including Elizabeth Knox, Barbara Anderson and Jenny Bornholdt. Mutes & Earthquakes (1997) was an anthology of works by his former students; the introduction by Manhire begins with two pieces of advice: "1. Write what you know, and / 2. Write what you don't know". From 2001 to 2013 he was the inaugural and founding director of the International Institute of Modern Letters, which offers an MA and Ph.D. in creative writing, as well as a range of specialised undergraduate workshops. Students of the Institute have included Eleanor Catton, Catherine Chidgey and Hinemoana Baker. In 2016 the institute's building was named the Bill Manhire House in recognition of his contribution to the university and to New Zealand literature. His successor Damien Wilkins said on the occasion that Manhire's name "is synonymous with creative writing at Victoria".