Obituary: master wordsmith won it all

Posted: Monday Jul 01, 2024

Sir Vincent O’Sullivan - Author

To call Sir Vincent O’Sullivan a writer would be selling his career very short. He was arguably the country’s foremost literary polymath.

Yet despite all the accolades and recognition, his friends say he was almost under-appreciated.

And he was a man who had many friends.

In compiling this obituary, one was struck by the sheer number of people who came out of the woodwork to express their admiration.

No wonder: he was one of only two writers — the other being Janet Frame — to have won every major category in the New Zealand Book Awards (poetry, fiction, and non-fiction).

Sir Vincent, who died in Dunedin on April 28, aged 86, was not only a disciplined academic and researcher, but also a very earthy poet and prose stylist, who understood local history and vernacular.

He was also a trenchant reviewer who spoke his mind and did not suffer fools gladly.

He spent his final years in Dunedin and remained prolific to the very end — Still Is, his last collection of poetry, was finished a few weeks before his death and launched in Wellington yesterday.

The anthology brings his career full circle; his first major published work was poetry collection Our Burning Time in 1965.

Born in Auckland on September 28, 1937, Sir Vincent combined an academic career with that of a prolific writer and editor.

He attended St Joseph's School in Grey Lynn, and Sacred Heart College, and later graduated from the University of Auckland with a bachelor of arts degree in 1959 and a master’s of arts with first-class honours the next year.

He spent a year at Oxford University, and lectured in English at Victoria and Waikato universities, before becoming literary editor of the New Zealand Listener from 1979 to 1980.

Six years of fellowships at New Zealand and Australian universities followed, interrupted by a year as resident playwright of Wellington's Downstage Theatre where the first of his several stage plays was performed in 1983.

Te Herenga Waka University Press publisher Fergus Barrowman met Sir Vincent for the first time in 1983; when Sir Vincent was working on his first play Shuriken.

"I found him quite intimidating; he was kind of a star at the time. But as I got to know him, he was a very kind and funny person.

"He was a really gifted writer across all of the genres. Also, he was a dedicated scholar. He brought a real openness — the way he could synthesise things was remarkable."

The absolute essence of Sir Vincent’s talent was most present in the poetry, Mr Barrowman said.

"It was the musicality of his language; the way he could mix the vernacular with the educated. He had a very dark sense of humour. The very best of his poems will create a core canon.

"But if you look more widely, Shuriken is a terrific piece of theatre and was very important in bringing the story about the massacre of Japanese prisoners of war at the camp in Featherstone back into the public consciousness.

"There are the three novels, all of which were terrific. And biographies of Ralph Hotere and John Mulgan which get the measure of the men.

Mr Barrowman said he was in awe of Sir Vincent’s "focus on accuracy".

Historian Redmer Yska remembered Sir Vincent’s generosity.

"When I got to know Sir Vincent in 2012, I saw his collegiality and generosity first hand.

Continue reading: Obituary: master wordsmith won it all | Otago Daily Times Online News (odt.co.nz)