Allen Curnow

Allen Curnow was a major New Zealand poet whose work helped shape a distinctive national literature. He also worked as a journalist, critic, editor, and university professor, teaching English at the University of Auckland from the 1950s until 1976. His poetry ranged from public reflections on New Zealand history and society to more introspective meditations on nature, time, and mortality; his final collection, The Bells of Saint Babel’s, appeared in 2001.