Peter Bland

Peter Bland (born 12 May 1934 in Scarborough, North Yorkshire) ^[1] is a British-New Zealand poet and actor.

Life

He emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 20 and graduated from the Victoria University of Wellington.

He worked as a radio producer for the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation.

He became closely associated with the Wellington Group which included James K. Baxter and Louis Johnson. He worked in theatre, as co-founder and artistic director of Downstage Theatre from 1964–68.^[2]

He returned to Britain in 1970 for a short time but now lives in Auckland, New Zealand.^[3]

Awards and honours

• 1977 Cholmondeley Award
• Arvon Foundation International Poetry Competition, England
• 2011 Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement^[4]

Works

Poetry

• Title 3 poets: I. Habitual fevers, by Peter Bland. II. The watchers, by John Boyd. III. The sensual anchor, by Victor O'Leary. Capricorn Press. 1958.
• My Side of the Story: Poems 1960–1964. Mate Books. 1964.
• Domestic Interiors. Wai-te-ata Press. 1964.
• The Man With the Carpet-Bag. Caxton Press. 1972.
• Mr. Maui. London Magazine Editions. 1976.
• Primitives. Wai-te-ata Press. 1979.
• Stone Tents. London Magazine Editions. 1981. ISBN 978-0-904388-40-4.
• The Crusoe Factor. London Magazine Editions. 1985.
• Selected Poems. McIndoe. 1987.
• Paper Boats. J. McIndoe. 1991. ISBN 978-0-86868-130-6.
• Selected Poems. Carcanet. 1998. ISBN 978-1-85754-357-5.
• Let's Meet: poems 1985-2003. Steele Roberts. 2003. ISBN 978-1-877338-07-6.
• Ports of Call. Steele Roberts. 2003. ISBN 978-1-877338-04-5.
• The Night Kite: Poems for Children. Illustrator Carl Bland. Mallinson Rendel. 2004. ISBN 978-0-908783-83-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
• Mr Maui's Monologues. Steele Roberts. 2008. ISBN 978-1-877448-27-0.
• Loss. Steele Roberts. 2010. ISBN 978-1-877448-97-3.
• Starkey the Gentle Pirate. Illustrator Nikki Slade Robinson. Steele Roberts. 2010. ISBN 978-1-877-577-03-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
• Coming Ashore. Steele Roberts. 2011. ISBN 978-1-877577-49-9.
• Collected Poems: 1956–2011. Steele Roberts. 2013. ISBN 978-1-877577-99-4.
• Breath Dances. Steele Roberts. 2013. ISBN 978-1-927242-11-7.
• Hunting Elephants. Steele Roberts. 2014. ISBN 978-1-927242-53-7.

Plays

• Father’s Day (Wellington, 1966; the first locally-written production at Downstage Theatre)
• George the Mad Ad Man (Wellington, 1967, and Coventry, England, 1969).

Film Acting

• A Touch of the Other (1970)
• Don't Just Lie There, Say Something! (1974)
• Dangerous Orphans (1985)
• Came a Hot Friday (1985)
• Queen City Rocker (1986)

Memoir

• Sorry, Im a Stranger Here Myself. Vintage. 2004. ISBN 978-1-86941-632-4.