This collection of poetry culls Karl Stead's most lasting and memorable works into a single volume. Drawn from previously published works though his distinguished career, from his debut collection Whether the Will is Free to his recent publication The Black River, this resource also contains 22 previously unpublished poems from his early days.

An old friend, a new character – C. K. Stead is scribe to love and grief in this beautiful new collection. In two sequences the poet plays with the lines of history and love, the fictional and the autobiographical. Reflecting on a long career and familiar faces, the first sequence walks the reader from classical Rome to contemporary Aotearoa. Then in the shade of Parnell begins a tender address to a new character, Kezia, lover and friend just lost. Lyrical and deeply moving, In the Half Li...

Award-winning author C.K. Stead takes us to the heart of contemporary Paris and into a world of books and witty conversation. The Necessary Angel is a story of people grappling with love and fidelity; a story about the importance of books; a commentary on living in complex modern-day Europe; and a page-turning mystery. With a surprising twist at the end, this is a sophisticated novel that shows Stead writing at the height of his powers.'Stead is a fine writer, intelligent ...

Exploring literature, cultures, and surroundings—both physical and social—the poems in this collection are firmly attached to the author's memories. With appearances by various other literary fellows, in person, dream, or conversation—including Curnow, Kawharu, Sargeson, Creeley, Mansfield, and Wordsworth—this book also features warmly translated versions of poems by Montale, Vita, and Jaccottet alongside glimpses of fantails and elegies for friends. Urging its readers to stay alert and pa...

Having left the university to write full-time at the end of volume two, Stead throws himself into his work. In novels like Sister Hollywood and My Name Was Judas, criticism in the London Review of Books and the Financial Times, poetry and memoir, Stead establishes his international reputation as novelist, poet, and critic. It is also a period when Stead's fearless lucidity on matters literary and political embroil him in argument—from The Bone Peopl...

In his 85th year, C. K. Stead's new collection leads us deep inside the life of the poet. He looks back at his younger self, remembering old loves and cringing at his 'sonnets' lugubrious rhyming'. He tells us of those who have gone – Derrida ('that Derrida whom I derided died') and Curnow ('Allen's as dead now / as an old friend can be which is / hardly at all), Peter Porter and Lucien Freud. And he takes us along with him on the poetical life: from Dogshit Park in Budapest to a Zagreb bo...

A collection of 47 essays, lectures, reviews and articles covering a wide variety of topics, ranging from Yeats and Katherine Mansfield to Booker Prizewinners Peter Carey and Keri Hulme.

A sequel to the successful books Kin of Place and The Writer at Work, this collection of critical writing takes the reader on a personal journey from the author's earliest discovery of poetry as a young man to his latest experiences on the literary trail. This trip through literary history involves many writers, including Katherine Mansfield, T. S. Eliot, Michael King, and Elizabeth Knox. The book also includes a series of journal extracts that allow readers to get closer...

We all know the story of Jesus told by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but what about the version according to Judas?In this witty, original and teasingly controversial account, some forty years after the death of Jesus, Judas finally tells the story as he remembers it. Looking back on his childhood and youth from an old age the gospel writers denied him, Judas recalls his friendship with Jesus; their schooling together; their families; the people who would go on to be disciples and ...

In this poignant new poetry collection, one of this country's most significant voices reflects on home, on away, and on friends living and dead. 'I lead a life of quiet medication', the poet claims, 'longing for foreign shores, adventure and death.' But whether swimming to the yellow buoy or remembering an encounter in Belsize Park, in the thick of it or asking, 'what next?', Stead's voice is intimate, amusing and always compelling. Swimming in the dark I call on memory – Rangitoto ahead, ...

A literary life in New Zealand and beyond, from one of its most significant voices. C. K. Stead continues his memoirs, chronicling his journey from a young lecturer in Australia to a prominent figure in New Zealand's literary scene.This second volume delves into Stead's experiences navigating the complexities of literary friendships, political activism, and personal growth during a transformative period. From encounters with literary giants like Curnow and Baxter t...

Over a quarter of a century, C. K. Stead has built up a widely accessible collection of reviews and critical essays on New Zealand literature. In the Glass Case covers a wide spectrum of New Zealand writers, who are examined from a remarkably consistent viewpoint. The title is symbolic: New Zealand books were once held in a glass-fronted bookcase at the University of Auckland library. These were considered rare, although they are now out on the open shelves. Stead's views are often controv...