Alistair Paterson

Alistair Ian Hughes Paterson (born 1929) is a New Zealand writer and poet. A long-time editor of the literary journal Poetry New Zealand, Paterson was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to literature, in the 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours.

History Paterson was born in Nelson, New Zealand in 1929. He received his education from Nelson College (1943–47), Christchurch Teachers' College, and Victoria University of Wellington and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and Diploma of Education. In the 1970s, Paterson served as a naval officer at the Devonport Naval Base, the home of the Royal New Zealand Navy. In 1982, Paterson was a joint winner of Auckland University's John Cowie Reid Memorial Award for longer poems. In 1993, one of Paterson's short stories earned him the Bank of New Zealand Katherine Mansfield Award, which was established in 1959 to help new and established New Zealand authors achieve recognition and promote writing. In 1994, Paterson published the novel, How to be a Millionaire by Next Wednesday. Around that time, he became editor of Poetry New Zealand, a literary journal.

In 2001, Paterson chose, as the featured poet in Poetry New Zealand, Pooja Mittal, whom he described as a genius and "the best young poet of all." In December of that year, Paterson hosted a "poetry and champagne" event at the French Embassy in Wellington. a collection of social and political observation, and romantic theme poems written by Paterson between 1987 and 2003. By 2004, Paterson had opened a Poetry NZ office in Palm Springs, California. At that time, it was the only New Zealand literary journal with an overseas office. In 2008, Paterson published the long poem Africa.

Awards 1982 Auckland University's John Cowie Reid Memorial Award for longer poems (joint winner) 1993 Bank of New Zealand's Katherine Mansfield Memorial Award for short stories

Selected publications 1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s broadsheet: new new zealand poetry no. 6, featuring the poetry of Alistair Paterson, ed. Mark Pirie, The Night Press, 2010 Passant: A Journey to Elsewhere, Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd, 2017 Poetry New Zealand Yearbook 2018, featuring the poetry of Alistair Paterson, ed. Jack Ross, Massey University Press, 2018