Shef Rogers appointed Donald Collie Chair

Posted: Tuesday Oct 31, 2023

Associate Professor Shef Rogers has been appointed as the English and Linguistic programme’s Donald Collie Chair.

Shef Rogers appointed Donald Collie Chair | University of Otago

The self-described “bibliographer, book historian, library hound” says it’s very meaningful to him that the appointment is an honour from his colleagues, who recommend a candidate to the Vice-Chancellor.

“The Chair is a way to honour significant commitments to scholarship, leadership and teaching. Someone who has broad range, contributes widely, is a good citizen but also intellectually respectable,” says Associate Professor Rogers.

“It’s fantastic the department has the named Chair and its endowment to allow for this kind of recognition.”

Donald Collie was a pioneer farmer in Fairfax, Southland. The Donald Collie Chair was established in his memory by his son. The first appointment was Alan Horsman (1968–1984), then Colin Gibson (1984–1999) and Evelyn Tribble (2003–2018).

A significant contribution

Associate Professor Rogers has been with the University for 32 years, and his contribution has been significant.

“I would describe myself as a bibliographer; most people would understand book historian better,” says Associate Professor Rogers.

“Most people who call themselves book historians now are much more interested in narrative history. I am more interested in analytical bibliography, where you essentially mentally take the book apart, reconstruct how it was printed. Figure out which sheets were printed first, which side was printed first, all that kind of stuff.”

For 12 years Associate Professor Rogers has been the editor of the Script & Print, the only journal in this part of the world devoted to his discipline. He gave up the presidency of the society to become its editor.

“Editing the journal is as much a form of teaching as scholarship,” he says. “Each submission and the revision process resemble mini-dissertations, across a challenging range of topics.

“I’m also at the extreme end of what journal editors do, engaging with the author, following through the revision process, typesetting each edition and mailing it out.”

As part of his preparation for retirement in April 2024, he plans to edit three more issues. He will finish with a volume in memoriam of his predecessor Keith Maslen, an internationally renowned bibliographer who died last year. The mentorship that Otago has provided from colleagues such as Dr Maslen, Jocelyn Harris and Colin Gibson has been one of the most enriching aspects of Associate Professor Rogers’ career.

He has also provided extensive support for his bibliographical community.

“I enjoy managing academic societies. I’m not the kind of leader who’s transformative, I am organised and reliable.”

In 2005, Associate Professor Rogers established the Australia and New Zealand Rare Book Summer School at Otago, which moves around Australasia every year, returning to Dunedin every fourth year. That activity was subsumed within the activities of the Centre for the Book, established in 2011, as part of Dunedin’s successful application to become a UNESCO City of Literature.

Associate Professor Rogers recently completed the maximum two terms as President of the Society of History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP), the global umbrella organisation for book history studies. He concluded his service by delivering a week-long online conference for 400 people in June.

Another place he has made a big contribution is in the Otakou Press (formerly the Bibliography Room, created by Dr Maslen). In this brightly-lit room in the Central Library overlooking Cumberland Street, the University houses three handprint presses and the associated type. In addition to teaching the craft skills of printing to English majors, Associate Professor Rogers has sustained a research focus on New Zealand’s publishing history, overseeing eight editions of NZ novels written before 1930. He plans to remain involved in letterpress printing after retiring and is particularly pleased with plans to declutter and enhance the space.

“I won’t run out of things to do”

On his retirement in April 2024, he says, “I will do some more work on New Zealand book history but I have to get the 18th-century stuff out of the way first.”

That ‘stuff’ includes a bibliography of travel writing in English 1700–1800 that he’s been working on intermittently for over 20 years. A recent University of Otago Prestigious Writing Grant is helping him finish it.

The other task related to the 18th century is to write a biography of Alexander Pope.

“What’s different about it is that it’s not about his life as a person, it’s about his life in publishing.

“We know a lot about Pope from his letters and from other people at the time, but his printed works also embed a lot of insights and indecision about how to present himself as an emerging writer.”

Associate Professor Rogers will also be spending more time with the University’s de Beer collection, a rich collection of 18th-century poetry.