Briar Wood

Briar Wood 'is an an Aorearoa New Zealand writer, poet and academif who was born in Taumarunui, and grew up in South Auckland. She gained an MA in Literature at the University of Auckland, and at the University of Sussex in the UK she was awarded a PhD in 1990 for her research on women's writing of the modernist era. Briar lived in London, teaching literature and creative writing for many years. Returning to Northland in Aotearoa New Zealand, she now combines travel, occasional lecturing and a focus on writing. Briar's poetry embraces multiple languages (particularly Te Reo Māori and English), and deploys multifarious, international fauna and flora references. Her poetry has been widely published and anthologised in national and international journals and anthologies. Her collection Welcome Beltane (Palores Press, 2012) whih made poetic links between famiy histories and contemporary places, was awarded the 2013 Holyer An Gof prize for poetry. Her next collection Rāwāki (Anahera Press, 2017) was short listed for the 2018 Ockham New Zealand poetry prize. Rāwāhi is centred around Northland places where he Te Hikutū ki Hokianga, Ngāpuhi Nui whakapapa reconates with ecological concerns. It has been translated in Ukrainian by Krok publishers. In her latest collection, A Book of Rongo and Te Rangahau (Anahera Press, 2022), Briar reimagines the lives of Rongo and Te Rangahau, 19th century wāhine toa, tūpuna of Ngā puhi, in radiant verse.' '

Biographical sources

• "Briar Wood ANZL Member" ANZL Academy of New Zealand Literature Te Whare Mātātuhi o Aotearoa. https://www.anzliterature.com/member/briar-wood/