Peter Bland
Encyclopedia
Peter Bland is a British-New Zealand poet
and actor.
.
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.
He returned to Britain in 1970.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and actor.
Life
He emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 20 and graduated from the Victoria University of WellingtonVictoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a former constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is particularly well known for its programmes in law, the humanities, and some scientific disciplines, but offers a broad range of other courses...
.
He worked as a radio producer for the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation
New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation
The New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation was established by the New Zealand government in 1962. It was dissolved on 1 April 1975, and replaced by three separate organisations: Radio New Zealand, Television One, and Television Two, later known as South Pacific Television....
.
He became closely associated with the Wellington Group
Wellington Group
The Wellington Group or Wellington School was a group of poets who worked and lived in and around Wellington, the capital of New Zealand in the 1950s and 1960s.-History:...
which included James K. Baxter
James K. Baxter
James Keir Baxter was a poet, and is a celebrated figure in New Zealand society.-Biography:Baxter was born in Dunedin to Archibald Baxter and Millicent Brown and grew up near Brighton. He was named after James Keir Hardie, a founder of the British Labour Party. His father had been a conscientious...
and Louis Johnson
Louis Johnson (poet)
-Life:He graduated from Wellington Teachers’ Training College.From 1968 to 1980, Johnson lived overseas and traveled widely, with an extended stay in Papua New Guinea....
. He worked in theatre, as co-founder and artistic director of Downstage Theatre
Downstage Theatre
The Downstage Theatre is a theatre in Wellington, New Zealand, and the country's longest running professional theatre, established in 1964.The founders at the inaugural meeting in the Wellington Public Library on 15 May 1964 were actors Peter Bland, Tim Elliott and Martyn Sanderson, with...
from 1964–68.
He returned to Britain in 1970.
Awards
- 1977 Cholmondeley AwardCholmondeley AwardThe Cholmondeley Award is an annual award for poetry given by the Society of Authors in the United Kingdom. Awards honour distinguished poets, from a fund endowed by the late Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley in 1966...
- Arvon FoundationArvon FoundationThe Arvon Foundation is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which promotes creative writing. It is based in the Free Word Centre for literature, literacy and free expression in London.-History:...
International Poetry Competition, England
Plays
- Father’s Day (Wellington, 1966; the first locally-written production at Downstage TheatreDownstage TheatreThe Downstage Theatre is a theatre in Wellington, New Zealand, and the country's longest running professional theatre, established in 1964.The founders at the inaugural meeting in the Wellington Public Library on 15 May 1964 were actors Peter Bland, Tim Elliott and Martyn Sanderson, with...
) - George the Mad Ad Man (Wellington, 1967, and Coventry, England, 1969).
Reviews
Rereading some of these poems after thirty years re-vealed that they have been bivouacking in the backblocks of memory, ready to return at the slightest prompting. One, "The Happy Army," created a memorable stir when published in the NZ Listener. Critics hostile to modernist twentieth-century poetic developments lambasted it as mere prose transfigured into verse-an odd objection, since Bland writes quite traditional poetry. Indeed, the very essence of Bland's poetry is the way a contemporary voice and a modern concern with the itinerant mind never at home even in its own past are communicated in poetry which has regard for stanza, rhyme in the form of assonance and alliteration, and rhythm which never quite becomes metrical.