Andrew Johnston

Andrew Johnston (born 1963) is a New Zealand poet and journalist who lives in Paris.

He is associated with the "Wellington school" of poets, which prominently includes Bill Manhire and Jenny Bornholdt, and his verse has been published in "London Review of Books" and "The Times Literary Supplement" in the United Kingdom; and in "Sport" as well as other publications in New Zealand.

Life and career

Born in Upper Hutt, he received his secondary school education at St Patrick's College, Silverstream. He obtained a bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of Otago and a master's degree in English literature from the University of Auckland. In 1995 he represented New Zealand at the University of Iowa's International Writing Program.

Johnston edited the books page of (the now-defunct) The Evening Post from 1991 to 1996. In 1997 he moved to London and started working as a "casual sub-editor on the broadsheets", but after eight months moved to Normandy to teach English. When the job fell through, he commuted once a week across the Channel to work part-time for The Observer newspaper.

His marriage in 1998 resulted in his getting the right to work in France, and he applied for and received a job as an editor at the International Herald Tribune in Paris. He moved there in 1999 with his wife, Christine.

Awards and recognition Louis Johnson New Writers Bursary recipient, 1991 How to Talk, 1993, won the 1994 New Zealand Book Award for Poetry and the 1994 Jessie Mackay Best First Book Award. "Great Aunt", a poem, selected for the online collection Best New Zealand Poems 2002 "Les Baillessats", a poem, selected for Best New Zealand Poems 2004 Fits and Starts, 2016, won the Poetry Award at the 2017 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards

Works Poetry: 2023: Selected Poems, Victoria University Press 2016: Fits and Starts, Victoria University Press, winner of the Poetry Award at the 2017 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2007: Sol, Victoria University Press 2000: Birds of Europe, Victoria University Press 1999: The Open Window, Arc Publications (United Kingdom) 1996: The Sounds, Victoria University Press 1993: How to Talk, winner of the 1994 New Zealand Book Award for Poetry and the 1994 Jessie Mackay Best First Book Award, Victoria University Press