When CK Stead's first book was published in 1964 he was touted as a name to watch and he has not disappointed.
The New Poetic, based on his doctoral thesis, surprised many because of its wide public appeal.
He is the keynote speaker at the Whanganui Literary Festival on Friday, October
6 at 7pm. With so many genres and such a large list of publications, it must be difficult to decide what to discuss within the allotted hour of the Whanganui Literary Festival.
"Much as I would be tempted to range over CK Stead's whole oeuvre, I am going to concentrate on his latest collection, The Name on the Door is not Mine, which will be available for sale at the event," Chair of the session, Joan Rosier-Jones, says. "It is quintessential Karl Stead."
Born in Auckland, Christian Karison (Karl) Stead spent much of his adult career as Professor of English at the University of Auckland. Now one of New Zealand's pre-eminent Men of Letters he has worked in many genres over the intervening 50-plus years. Some may remember Smith's Dream which was made into the feature film, Sleeping Dogs, starring a young Sam Neill. As well as his novels Karl Stead has extensively published short stories, poetry and literary criticism.
His novel All Visitors Ashore was recognised as a nod to the literary and artistic community gathered around Frank Sargeson in Takapuna. As with Smith's Dream there are political overtones. More recently My Name was Judas, 'a revisionist view of Christianity' according to The Guardian, caused a stir. But Stead is a man who has never backed away from controversy.
He retired from academic life in 1986 to concentrate on writing, and his output has been prodigious. Such excellence and commitment has not gone unnoticed. He has twice received the Prime Minister's award for literary achievement and collected many literary awards and honours. He is a Member of the Order of New Zealand, New Zealand's highest honour and in 2015-2017 was New Zealand's Poet Laureate.
