Contrasting projects for new writer in residence at Waikato

Waikato University’s 2011 writer in residence has been a shearer, a postman and psychiatric social worker.

He’s also an historian and poet. Dr Jeffrey Paparoa Holman will move to Hamilton from Christchurch early next year to work on two projects during his year at Waikato.

The first is a collection of poetry he’s called Second Cuts which will centre round New Zealand’s shearing culture; the other is a memoir which stems from a photograph of a Kamikaze pilot striking an aircraft carrier with Holman’s father on board.

“My father was on the bridge when the Illustrious was hit in April 1945 and survived. So while I’ll be writing my father’s story I want to try to find a link with the man who was flying the plane – who was trying to kill my father. You could call it a quest memoir.”

It will be a bonus for Holman to be able to work full time on his writing while he’s living in Hamilton. He plans to travel to Japan during the year to visit some of the Kamikaze museums that memorialise the Japanese war dead. “I cannot say what form or shape the memoir will take, it’s impossible to predict, but I couldn’t have done this without getting the residency.”

This year has been a fruitful one for Holman who’s a senior adjunct fellow in the School of Humanities at Canterbury University. In March, Penguin Books published Best of Both Worlds: the story of Elsdon Best and Tutakangahau which grew out of his PhD thesis and was shortlisted in the Māori Book Awards.

August saw the release of Autumn Waiata – a book of poems, and this month Fly Boy will be launched at Wigram Airbase in Christchurch. “It’s about birds and flying and probably a first in that it’s an entire series of poems about flight.”

Holman grew up on the South Island’s West Coast and feels a strong connection to that part of New Zealand, which is why he took the name Paparoa from the coastal mountain range in the region. “I’m interested in our identity as New Zealanders and the strong links between Māori and Pakeha and like many Māori I feel a sense of belonging and a deep association with land.” His book The Late Great Blackball Bridge sonnets is based around the railway bridge that linked Blackball with the outside world and features people and aspects of the town where he was raised.

Three earlier books of poetry include Two Poets: Strange Children; Flood Damage, and As Big as a Father. “I like to think my poems can be appreciated by almost everybody. They’re not highbrow; they tell stories many people can relate to and they reflect different aspects of who we are and how we live.”

Waikato University’s writer in residence is funded each year by the university and Creative New Zealand. Dr Sarah Shieff from Waikato’s Department of Humanities says Jeffrey Holman’s projects sound terrific, and they’re delighted that he's been able to take up the position for 2011 and looking forward to having him on campus.