Peter Simpson

Peter Simpson, born in Tākaka in 1942, was Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Auckland for 30 years and also taught at universities in Christchurch and Ottawa, Canada. He is one of this country’s most experienced and prolific writers on art, literature and cultural history. He has curated four significant exhibitions of Colin McCahon’s art and three of Leo Bensemann’s. Among his many books are five on McCahon, including a major two-volume study (Auckland University Press, 2020). He has also written or edited books on Ronald Hugh Morrieson, Allen Curnow, Kendrick Smithyman, Leo Bensemann, Charles Brasch, Charles Spear and Peter Peryer. He received the Michael King Fellowship to write Bloomsbury South: The Arts in Christchurch 1933-53 (AUP, 2016). He writes regularly for Art New Zealand and other major art catalogues. In 2017 he received the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement (non-fiction) and in 2019 an honorary doctorate from University of Canterbury.

Peter Simpson

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