New Landfall editor named

Posted: Thursday Apr 22, 2021

Otago University Press is pleased to announce that Lynley Edmeades has been named the new editor of Landfall: Aotearoa New Zealand arts and letters.

Edmeades takes over the role from Emma Neale – Landfall editor for four years – who is stepping back to focus on other projects.

‘It is a huge honour to take up the helm as editor of Landfall,’ says Edmeades.
‘I’m excited to be at the receiving end of new writing in Aotearoa, and look forward to showcasing the richness and diversity of voices we have.’

Otago University Press publisher Sue Wootton describes it as a bittersweet moment in Landfall’s history.

‘We’re sad to be farewelling Emma Neale, and thank her for her immense contribution to New Zealand letters during her tenure as Landfall editor. At the same time we’re delighted that this important baton is being passed to Lynley Edmeades.’

‘Lynley’s voice in the literary landscape has many registers. She’s a respected poet and essayist whose own creative work has been acknowledged in national and international literary awards. Under her editorship, Landfall is embarking on an exciting next chapter,’ says Wootton.

Edmeades is the author of two poetry collections, As the Verb Tenses (2016) and Listening In (2019). She has an MA in creative writing from the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry at Queen’s University of Belfast and holds a PhD in avant-garde poetics from the University of Otago.

In 2018, she was the Ursula Bethell Writer in Residence at the University of Canterbury, and she currently teaches poetry and creative writing on the English program at the University of Otago.

Landfall is New Zealand’s foremost and longest-running arts and literary journal. It showcases new fiction, poetry and art, as well as biographical and critical essays and cultural commentary.