ROBIN DUDDING, R.I.P.

I was so sad to learn last evening that Rob died yesterday just two days short of receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Auckland.

He was of course a notable figure in the NZ literary scene over many years having edited Landfall, Mate and Islands. He did much more too, including editing numerous books, writing the Bookmarks column at the Listener, and back in the 80's he and I were fellow middle/long distance runners of very average ability. We had a lot of fun though.

Rest in peace old friend.
The funeral details will be announced tomorrow.

See blog posting from last weekend to read tribute to Robin from the IIML at Victoria University .Thanks to Bill Manhire and Katie Hardwick-Smith at IIML, for sending me the cover image of the first issue of Islands, design by Ralph Hotere.

And here is part of a discussion between Iain Sharp and Bill Manhire way back in 1991:

IS
Dudding seems remarkably astute in how early he picked up on not just you but Wedde as well.

BM
I think he’s just a brilliant editor. It’s a pity he’s not still doing it. I think it was partly that he had time to shape an issue. He wouldn’t lumber it with a great thematic idea; he just let it slip into place as an arrangement of parts with somehow its own shape and logic, which wasn’t an obvious logic. I think every issue he did of Landfall and Islands had a centre to it. You felt like you were reading a book rather than just a gathering of things that had come to hand over the last three months. But you do need a lot of time for that to happen. I guess that’s why Islands slowly subsided twice. But, yes, I think Robin Dudding is a very important figure in New Zealand writing, and at some stage someone will have to sit down and try to work out just what his presence consists of, apart from the considerable beard.

For the full interview, and it is well worth reading when you have a few minutes use this link.