View source for Bill Manhire

{{short description|New Zealand poet, short story writer and professor}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}{{Use New Zealand English|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox writer <!-- For more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]]. -->
| name             = Bill Manhire
| honorific_prefix = 
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|CNZM|size=100%}}
| image            = Bill Manhire.jpg
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| alt              = Bill Manhire in Frankfurt in October 2012
| caption          = Manhire in 2012
| pseudonym        = 
| birth_name       = 
| birth_date       = {{Birth date and age|1946|12|27|df=yes}}
| birth_place      = [[Invercargill]], New Zealand
| death_date       = <!-- {{Death date and age|df=yes|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| death_place      = 
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| occupation       = Poet, short story writer, [[emeritus]] professor
| language         = 
| nationality      = New Zealander
| alma_mater       = {{unbulleted list|[[University of Otago]]|[[University College London]]}}
| period           = 
| genre            = 
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| notableworks     = 
| spouse           = Marion McLeod
| partner          = 
| children         = 2, including [[Toby Manhire]]
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'''William Manhire''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|CNZM}} (born 27 December 1946) is a New Zealand poet, short story writer, [[emeritus]] professor, and New Zealand's inaugural [[New Zealand Poet Laureate|Poet Laureate]] (1997–1998). He founded New Zealand's first creative writing course at [[Victoria University of Wellington]] in 1975, founded the [[International Institute of Modern Letters]] in 2001, and has been a strong promoter of New Zealand literature and poetry throughout his career. Many of New Zealand's leading writers graduated from his courses at Victoria.<ref name="ANZL">{{cite web |title=Bill Manhire |url=https://www.anzliterature.com/member/bill-manhire/ |website=Academy of New Zealand Literature |access-date=18 March 2021}}</ref> He has received many notable awards including a [[Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement]] in 2007 and an [[Arts Foundation of New Zealand#Icon Award|Arts Foundation Icon Award]] in 2018.

The ''Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature'' (2006) states that he is "recognised as among the two or three finest New Zealand poets of his generation",<ref name="OCNZL">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Jackson |first1=MacDonald P. |editor1-last=Robinson |editor1-first=Roger |editor2-last=Wattie |editor2-first=Nelson |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature |title=Manhire, Bill |url=https://ojs.victoria.ac.nz/kotare/article/download/616/428 |access-date=18 March 2021 |date=2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-1917-3519-6 |oclc=865265749 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001}}</ref> and literary critic [[Peter Simpson (writer)|Peter Simpson]] has observed that Manhire has "probably done more to widen the audience for poetry in New Zealand than any other individual".<ref name="Simpson">{{cite news |last1=Simpson |first1=Peter |title=Bill Manhire: 121 New Zealand poems |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/embill-manhireem-121-new-zealand-poems/M6NQNANKSHA22TYPFOKIWW5VBM/ |access-date=20 March 2021 |work=New Zealand Herald |date=9 July 2005}}</ref>

==Early life==
Manhire was born in [[Invercargill]]. His mother was from Scotland with a degree in science, and his father was a publican; they had met and married during World War II, and his mother sailed to New Zealand on a ship of [[war brides]] on Valentine's Day in 1946.<ref name="Sharp">{{cite web |last1=Sharp |first1=Iain |title=An Interview with Bill Manhire |url=http://www.nzepc.auckland.ac.nz/authors/manhire/sharp.asp |website=New Zealand Electronic Poetry Centre |access-date=19 March 2021 |date=1992}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bill Manhire |url=https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poet/bill-manhire/ |website=Scottish Poetry Library |access-date=5 April 2021}}</ref> In his memoir ''Under the Influence'' (2003), he described growing up in different small town South Island pubs.<ref name="Lancashire">{{cite news |last1=Lancashire |first1=Rebecca |title=The accidental poet |url=https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/books/the-accidental-poet-20080223-ge6rcj.html |access-date=19 March 2021 |work=The Age |date=23 February 2008}}</ref> He attended [[Otago Boys' High School]], and later the [[University of Otago]] in [[Dunedin]] where he received his B.A. in 1967, his M.A. (with honours) in 1968, and his M.Litt. in 1970. He went on to study Norse [[sagas]] at [[University College London]] (1970–73, M.Phil.).<ref>"Bill Manhire", ''Contemporary Poets'', 7th ed. St. James Press, 2001</ref><ref name="OCTCPE">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Sharp |first1=Iain |editor1-last=Hamilton |editor1-first=Ian |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry in English |title=Manhire, Bill |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192800428.001.0001/acref-9780192800428-e-748 |access-date=20 March 2021 |date=2003 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-1917-2758-0}}</ref>

As a young writer, Manhire sent some poetry to [[Charles Brasch]]; of this work, Manhire later said, "I can't remember the exact contents, but I think they had lines like 'I stalk the streets of the midnight city' and were full of soiled sheets and neon and terrible things like that". He said he was "enormously encouraged" by Brasch's response, which encouraged him to keep trying and to take himself seriously as a writer. Other writers Manhire met in Dunedin included [[Iain Lonie]], [[Trevor Reeves]] and [[James K. Baxter]].<ref name="Sharp"/>

==Career==
In the 1960s, while still an undergraduate at the University of Otago, Manhire had his first poems published in New Zealand journals,<ref name="OCTCPE"/> including notably the journal ''[[Landfall (journal)|Landfall]]'', then edited by [[Robin Dudding]].<ref name="Sharp"/> While studying in London in the early 1970s he had poems published in British magazines.<ref name="OCTCPE"/> His first book was a poem, ''Malady'', published in 1970. It consisted of just four words ("malady", "melody" and "my lady") arranged in patterns on the page, accompanied by drawings by artist [[Ralph Hotere]], who had met Manhire in Dunedin while he was the [[Frances Hodgkins Fellowship|Frances Hodgkins Fellow]].<ref name="Sharp"/><ref name="OCTCPE"/> Manhire's second book, ''The Elaboration'' (1972), was also a collaboration with Hotere, and was published by [[Charles Brasch]] and [[Janet Paul]].<ref name="Sharp"/> Around this time, and while living in London, Manhire and fellow poet [[Kevin Cunningham (writer)|Kevin Cunningham]] set up the Amphedesma Press to publish their own and their friends' work, including poetry books by [[Ian Wedde]] and [[Bob Orr (poet)|Bob Orr]].<ref name="Sharp"/><ref name="Wizard">{{cite news |last1=Dudding |first1=Adam |title=Bill Manhire: Wizard of odes |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/culture/7716845/Bill-Manhire-Wizard-of-odes |access-date=20 March 2021 |work=Dominion Post |date=23 September 2012}}</ref>

[[File:BillManhireHouse 01.jpg|thumb|alt=The entrance of the Bill Manhire House, a seemingly small yellow-walled building with stairs down to a lower level and vegetation off to the side.|Entrance to the Bill Manhire House at the [[International Institute of Modern Letters]]]]
In 1973, after returning to New Zealand, Manhire began lecturing in the English department of [[Victoria University of Wellington]], where he founded New Zealand's first creative writing course in 1975.<ref name="OCNZL"/><ref name="OCTCPE"/><ref name="IIML">{{cite web |title=Our history: History of the International Institute of Modern Letters |url=https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/modernletters/about/history |website=Victoria University of Wellington |date=13 December 2018 |access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref> His creative writing course, which he taught for more than 25 years, had a major influence on New Zealand literature, with many well-known New Zealand writers having graduated, including [[Elizabeth Knox]], [[Barbara Anderson (writer)|Barbara Anderson]] and [[Jenny Bornholdt]].<ref name="OCNZL"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Graduates online: International Institute of Modern Letters |url=https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/modernletters/our-students/grad-writing |website=Victoria University of Wellington |access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Cook |first1=Megan |last2=Wilton |first2=Caren |title=Writers – Story: Arts education and training |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/arts-education-and-training/page-4 |website=Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref> ''Mutes & Earthquakes'' (1997) was an anthology of works by his former students; the introduction by Manhire begins with two pieces of advice: "1. Write what you know, and / 2. Write what you don't know".<ref name="OCNZL"/> From 2001 to 2013 he was the inaugural and founding director of the [[International Institute of Modern Letters]], which offers an MA and Ph.D. in creative writing, as well as a range of specialised undergraduate workshops.<ref name="IIML"/> Students of the Institute have included [[Eleanor Catton]], [[Catherine Chidgey]] and [[Hinemoana Baker]]. In 2016 the institute's building was named the Bill Manhire House in recognition of his contribution to the university and to New Zealand literature.<ref name="IIML"/> His successor [[Damien Wilkins (writer)|Damien Wilkins]] said on the occasion that Manhire's name "is synonymous with creative writing at Victoria".<ref>{{cite web |title=Bill Manhire House |url=https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/news/2016/04/bill-manhire-house |website=Victoria University of Wellington |access-date=20 March 2021 |date=26 April 2016}}</ref>

Manhire has published a number of poetry collections, including notably his ''Collected Poems'' (2001). His poetry is known for word-play, experimentation and his ironic and whimsical sense of humour.<ref name="OCNZL"/><ref name="OCTCPE"/> Critic [[Iain Sharp]] writes that Manhire's reputation "rests on a solid, seriously intentioned body of work, notable for its oblique lyricism and sense of wonder at the strangeness of both life and language".<ref name="OCTCPE"/> After his fifth book of poetry, ''Good Looks'' (1982), Manhire for a time switched to writing prose, publishing ''The Brain of Katherine Mansfield'' (1988), a book in the style of the ''[[Choose Your Own Adventure]]'' series with illustrations by [[Gregory O'Brien]], and ''The New Land'' (1990), a collection of satirical short stories.<ref name="OCTCPE"/> In 1986 he wrote a critical study of fellow New Zealand writer [[Maurice Gee]].<ref name="OCNZL"/>

In 1998, Manhire went to [[Antarctica]] for several weeks with poet [[Chris Orsman]] and painter [[Nigel Brown]], as part of the [[Artists to Antarctica]] programme run by [[Antarctica New Zealand]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Antarctic Arts Fellows under the Artists to Antarctica Programme and Invited Artists Programme|url=https://www.antarcticanz.govt.nz/uploads/images/Antarctic-Arts-Fellows-under-the-Artists-to-Antarctica-Programme-and-Invited-Artists-Programme.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=6 March 2021|website=Antarctic New Zealand|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125190927/https://www.antarcticanz.govt.nz/uploads/images/Antarctic-Arts-Fellows-under-the-Artists-to-Antarctica-Programme-and-Invited-Artists-Programme.pdf |archive-date=25 January 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Interview: Bill Manhire |url=https://www.flash-frontier.com/2018/12/31/interview-bill-manhire/ |website=Flash Frontier |access-date=20 March 2021 |date=31 December 2018}}</ref> The experience inspired a number of poems which formed the basis of his collection ''What to Call Your Child'' (1999), as well as a subsequent anthology of writing about Antarctica called ''The Wide White Page: Writers Imagine Antarctica'' (2004) which he edited and introduced.<ref name="Carcanet">{{cite web |title=Bill Manhire – Biography |url=https://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?owner_id=453 |website=Carcanet Press |access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref> For the 25th anniversary of the [[Air New Zealand Flight 901|Erebus air disaster]] in 2004, Manhire wrote the poem "Erebus Voices", which was read by [[Edmund Hillary|Sir Edmund Hillary]] at the commemorative service at [[Scott Base]], [[Antarctica]].<ref>{{cite web |title='Erebus voices' |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/6711/erebus-voices |website=Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref>

Throughout his career Manhire has been a significant promoter of New Zealand poetry and other local writing, acting as editor of several compilations of New Zealand works, including ''NZ Listener Short Stories'' (1977), ''Some Other Country: New Zealand's Best Short Stories'' (with his wife [[Marion McLeod]], 1984, with updated editions published in 1992, 1997 and 2007) and ''Six by Six: Short Stories by New Zealand's Best Writers'' (1989).<ref name="OCNZL"/> His collection of New Zealand poetry, ''100 New Zealand Poems'' (1993), proved particularly popular, and was subsequently expanded to become ''121 New Zealand Poems'' (2005).<ref name="Simpson"/> He was a founding publisher of the online [[Best New Zealand Poems series]], which began in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Best of Best New Zealand Poems |url=https://vup.victoria.ac.nz/the-best-of-best-new-zealand-poems/ |website=Victoria University Press |access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref> For many years he presented a poetry segment on the [[Kim Hill (broadcaster)|Kim Hill]] Show on [[Radio New Zealand]].<ref name="About">{{cite web |title=About our Founding Director |url=https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/modernletters/about/history/about-our-founding-director |website=Victoria University of Wellington |date=10 May 2018 |access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref> To mark his 60th birthday in 2006, Victoria University Press and ''[[Sport (New Zealand magazine)|Sport]]'' published the limited edition ''Manhire at 60: A Book for Bill''. The book featured essays, poems, stories and other written work from over 40 writers who had been inspired by Manhire.<ref>{{cite web |title=Manhire at 60: A Book For Bill |url=https://vup.victoria.ac.nz/manhire-at-60-a-book-for-bill/ |website=Victoria University Press |access-date=5 April 2021}}</ref><ref name="Read NZ">{{cite web |title=Manhire, Bill |url=https://www.read-nz.org/writer/manhire-bill/ |website=Read NZ Te Pou Muramura |access-date=5 April 2021}}</ref>

Manhire has regularly worked collaboratively with other artists and creators during his career, including with the artist [[Ralph Hotere]], physicist [[Paul Callaghan]], composer [[Norman Meehan]] and singer [[Hannah Griffin]]. His work with Meehan and Griffin has resulted in a range of music publications with lyrics or words by Manhire, including ''Buddhist Rain'' (2010) and ''These Rough Notes'' (2012).<ref name="VUP">{{cite web |title=Bill Manhire Products |url=https://vup.victoria.ac.nz/brands/Bill-Manhire.html |website=Victoria University Press |access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Persuading The Baby to Float |url=https://sounz.org.nz/resources/1008?locale=en |website=SOUNZ: Centre for New Zealand Music |access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Words And Melody – Bill Manhire, Norman Meehan and Paula Green |url=https://soundcloud.com/auckland-libraries/words-and-melody |website=SoundCloud |publisher=Ngā Pātaka Kōrero – Auckland Libraries |access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref>

==Awards and honours==
Manhire has received a number of New Zealand's most prestigious literary awards and fellowships, including the [[Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship]] in 2004, an [[Arts Foundation of New Zealand#Laureate Award|Arts Foundation Laureate Award]] in 2004 and the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in 2007.<ref name="Arts Bio">{{cite web |title=Bill Manhire's Biography |url=https://www.thearts.co.nz/artists/bill-manhire |website=Arts Foundation of New Zealand Te Tumi Toi |access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.creativenz.govt.nz/en/results-of-our-work/award-winners/prime-minister-s-awards-for-literary-achievement |title=Prime Minister's Awards for literary achievement: Award Winners |publisher=[[Creative New Zealand]] |access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref> He received the [[Lilian Ida Smith Award]] in 1987 for fiction and in 1989 for poetry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://authors.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Lilian-Ida-Smith-Award-recipients-to-2015.pdf|title=Lilian Ida Smith Award Recipients|access-date=26 November 2017}}</ref> He was appointed the first [[New Zealand Poet Laureate]] in 1996,<ref>{{cite web |title=Poet Laureate Award |url=http://www.poetlaureate.org.nz/p/award.html |website=New Zealand Poet Laureate |publisher=National Library of New Zealand |access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref> and from January to May 1999 was the Fulbright visiting professor in New Zealand studies at [[Georgetown University]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Bill Manhire |url=https://www.fulbright.org.nz/grantees-alumni/profiles/nzscholars/bill-manhire/ |website=Fulbright New Zealand |access-date=21 March 2021 |date=December 2008}}</ref>

In the [[2005 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)|2005 Queen's Birthday Honours]], he was appointed a [[Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit]] for services to literature,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2005 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2005 |date=6 June 2005 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=28 April 2020}}</ref> and that same year received an honorary doctorate of literature from the [[University of Otago]].<ref name="Arts Bio"/> In 2010 he was appointed a fellow of the [[Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi]].<ref>{{cite web |title=List of all Fellows with surnames M-O |url=https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/who-we-are/our-people/our-fellows/all-fellows/m-o/ |website=Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi |access-date=21 March 2021}}</ref> In 2015 he was the UNESCO visiting professor of creative writing at the [[University of East Anglia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=UNESCO Visiting Professor |url=https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/school-of-literature-drama-and-creative-writing/creative-writing/our-staff/unesco-visiting-professor |website=University of East Anglia |access-date=20 March 2021}}</ref> In 2018, the [[Arts Foundation of New Zealand]] bestowed on him the Icon Award, an award recognising New Zealand's greatest artists, which is limited to 20 living recipients.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wenman |first1=Eleanor |title=Five top Kiwi artists earn the title of Icon from the New Zealand Arts Foundation |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/capital-life/103730788/five-top-kiwi-artists-earn-the-title-of-icon-from-the-new-zealand-arts-foundation |access-date=20 March 2021 |work=Dominion Post |date=9 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Poet and writer Bill Manhire one of five new Arts Icons |url=https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/news/bill-manhire-one-of-five-new-arts-icons/ |website=Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi |access-date=21 March 2021 |date=10 May 2018}}</ref> In 2021 he received an honorary doctorate of literature from [[University College London]].<ref>{{cite web |title=UCL awards 2021 Honorary Degrees and Fellowships |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2021/jul/ucl-awards-2021-honorary-degrees-and-fellowships |website=University College London |access-date=10 October 2022 |date=15 July 2021}}</ref>

His work has won the [[Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry|Poetry Prize]] at the [[New Zealand Book Awards]] six times:<ref>{{cite web |title=Past Winners by Author: M |url=https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/past-winners-by-author?letter=M |website=New Zealand Book Awards Trust |access-date=18 March 2021}}</ref> 
* 1978: ''How to Take Your Clothes Off at the Picnic''
* 1985: ''Zoetropes''
* 1992: ''Milky Way Bar''
* 1994: ''100 New Zealand Poems'' (as editor)
* 1996: ''My Sunshine''
* 2006: ''Lifted''

== Notable students ==

* {{Annotated link|Lynn Jenner}}<ref>{{Cite thesis |title=Everyday Life in the Ancient World: Four Re-Collections |url=https://openaccess.wgtn.ac.nz/articles/thesis/Everyday_Life_in_the_Ancient_World_Four_Re-Collections/17009762/1 |publisher=Open Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington |date=2013-01-01 |degree=Doctoral |language=en |first=Lynn |last=Jenner}}</ref>
* {{Annotated link|Laurence Fearnley}}<ref>{{Cite thesis |title=Boden Black (A Novel) and With Axe and Pen in the New Zealand Alps: Differences Between Overseas and New Zealand Written Accounts of Climbing Mount Cook 1882-1920 and the Emergence of a New Zealand Voice in Mountaineering Literature |url=https://openaccess.wgtn.ac.nz/articles/thesis/Boden_Black_A_Novel_and_With_Axe_and_Pen_in_the_New_Zealand_Alps_Differences_Between_Overseas_and_New_Zealand_Written_Accounts_of_Climbing_Mount_Cook_1882-1920_and_the_Emergence_of_a_New_Zealand_Voice_in_Mountaineering_Literature/17000845/1 |publisher=Open Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington |date=2012-01-01 |degree=Doctoral |language=en |first=Jura |last=Fearnley}}</ref>

==Personal life==
He is married to journalist Marion McLeod, and has two children, Vanessa and [[Toby Manhire|Toby]], who are both journalists and writers.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/culture/7716845/Bill-Manhire-Wizard-of-odes | publisher=Stuff.co.nz | title=Bill Manhire: Wizard of odes | date=23 September 2012 | first=Adam | last=Dudding | access-date=2 June 2018 }}</ref>

==Selected works==
===Poetry===
{{refbegin|50em}}
* 1970: ''Malady'' (with Ralph Hotere) (Dunedin: Amphedesma Press)
* 1972: ''The Elaboration'' (with Ralph Hotere) (Wellington: Square & Circle)
* 1977: ''How to Take Off Your Clothes at the Picnic'' (Wellington: Wai-te-ata Press)
* 1979: ''Dawn/Water'' (Eastbourne: Hawk Press)
* 1981: ''Zoetropes'' (London: The Murihiku Press)
* 1982: ''Good Looks'' (Auckland: Auckland University Press)
* 1984: ''Zoetropes: Poems 1972–82'' (Wellington, Port Nicholson Press; Sydney: Allen & Unwin; Manchester: Carcanet Press)
* 1990: ''The Old Man's Example'' (Wellington: Wrist & Anchor Press)
* 1991: ''Milky Way Bar'' (Wellington: Victoria University Press; Manchester: Carcanet Press)
* 1995: ''Selected Poems'' (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 1996: ''My Sunshine'' (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 1996: ''Sheet Music: Poems 1967–1982'' (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 1999: ''What to Call Your Child'' (Auckland: Godwit / Random House New Zealand)
* 2001: ''Collected Poems'' (Wellington: Victoria University Press; Manchester: Carcanet Press)
* 2005: ''Lifted'' (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 2005: ''Pine'' (with Ralph Hotere) (Dunedin: Otakou Press)
* 2010: ''The Victims of Lightning'' (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 2017: ''Some Things to Place in a Coffin'' (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 2020: ''Wow'' (Wellington: Victoria University Press; Manchester: Carcanet Press)
{{refend}}

===Anthologies (edited)===
{{refbegin|50em}}
* 1969: ''New Zealand Universities Arts Festival Yearbook 1969'' (Dunedin: Caxton Press)
* 1977: ''NZ Listener Short Stories'' (Wellington: Methuen)
* 1978: ''NZ Listener Short Stories Volume 2'' (Wellington: Methuen)
* 1984: ''Some Other Country: New Zealand's Best Short Stories'' (with Marion McLeod, revised editions published in 1992 and 1997) (Wellington: Port Nicholson Press)
* 1989: ''Six by Six: Short Stories by New Zealand's Best Writers'' (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 1991: ''Soho Square. Four'' (Wellington: Bridget Williams Books)
* 1993: ''100 New Zealand Poems'' (Auckland: Godwit)
* 1995: ''Denis Glover: Selected Poems'' (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 1996: ''1396, a Literary Calendar : 13 works, hand-set & hand-printed'' (Wellington: Wai-te-ata Press)
* 1997: ''Mutes & Earthquakes: Bill Manhire's Creative Writing Course at Victoria'' (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 1997: ''The New Zealand Short Story Collection'' (with Marion McLeod, Australian edition of ''Some Other Country'') (St. Lucia, Australia: University of Queensland Press)
* 2001: ''Southern Convergence: Antarctic art'' (Wellington: Pemmican Press)
* 2001: ''Spectacular Babies: new writing'' (Co-edited with [[Karen Anderson (writer)|Karen Anderson]]) (Auckland: Flamingo)
* 2004: ''The Wide White Page: Writers Imagine Antarctica'' (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 2005: ''121 New Zealand Poems'' (Auckland: Godwit)
* 2006: ''Janet Frame: The Goose Bath – Poems'' (with Pamela Gordon and Denis Harold) (Auckland: Vintage)
* 2006: ''Are Angels OK? The Parallel Universes of New Zealand Writers and Scientists'' (with [[Paul Callaghan]]) (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 2007: ''Still Shines When You Think of It: A Festschrift for Vincent O'Sullivan'' (with Peter Whiteford) (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 2008: ''Some Other Country: New Zealand's Best Short Stories'' (with Marion McLeod, 4th edition) (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 2008: ''Storms Will Tell: Janet Frame’s Selected Poems'' (with Pamela Gordon and Denis Harold) (Northumberland: Bloodaxe Books)
* 2011: ''The Best of Best New Zealand Poems'' (with [[Damien Wilkins (writer)|Damien Wilkins]]) (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 2012: ''Ein anderes Land: Short Storys aus Neuseeland'' (German edition of ''Some Other Country'', re-edited, translated by Saskia Bontjes van Beek) (Munich: Dt. Taschenbuch-Verlag)
* 2019 Contributor to The New Divan: A Lyrical Dialogue Between East and West ISBN 9781909942288{{refend}}

===Other works===
{{refbegin|50em}}
* 1975: ''Song Cycle'' (performance, with [[Jack Body]], [[John Casserly]] and others) (Wellington: Sound-Movement Theatre)
* 1978: ''Riddles for voice and piano'' (with [[Gillian Whitehead]]) (London: Photographic Service (Music Reproductions))
* 1983: ''Locating the Beloved and Other Stories'' (Wellington: Single Title Press)
* 1986: ''Maurice Gee'' (biography) (Auckland: Oxford University Press)
* 1988: ''The Brain of Katherine Mansfield'' (choose-your-own-adventure book) (Auckland: Auckland University Press)
* 1990: ''The New Land: a Picture Book'' (collection of short stories) (Auckland: Heinemann Reed)
* 1994: ''South Pacific'' (collection of short stories) (Manchester: Carcanet Press)
* 1996: ''Songs of My Life'' (collection of short stories) (Auckland: Godwit)
* 1998: ''Homelight: an Antarctic Miscellany'' (collaborative work with [[Chris Orsman]] and [[Nigel Brown]]) (Karori: Pemmican Press)
* 2000: ''Doubtful Sounds: essays and interviews'' (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 2003: ''Under the Influence'' (memoir) (Wellington: Four Winds Press)
* 2010: ''Buddhist Rain'' (album with music by Norman Meehan and Hannah Griffin) (Wellington: Rattle Records)
* 2011: ''Making Baby Float'' (album with music by Norman Meehan and Hannah Griffin) (Wellington: Rattle Records)
* 2012: ''These Rough Notes'' (book and album, with [[Anne Noble]], Norman Meehan and Hannah Griffin) (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 2016: ''The Stories of Bill Manhire'' (collection of short stories) (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 2017: ''Tell Me My Name'' (riddles set to music by Norman Meehan and sung by Hannah Griffin) (Wellington: Victoria University Press)
* 2021: ''Bifröst'' (album with music by Norman Meehan, Hannah Griffin, Andrew Laking, Blair Latham, Lance Philip, Neil Aldridge, and Michael Sutherland) (Wellington: Rattle Records)
{{refend}}

==See also ==
* [[New Zealand literature]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* "Pavlova and Wrists: The Poetry of Bill Manhire", by Peter Crisp,  ''Islands 24'' (Auckland), November 1978. 
* "The Poetry of Bill Manhire", Hugh Lauder, in ''[[Landfall (journal)|Landfall]]'' (Christchurch), September 1983. 
* "Joker: Playing Poetry in the Eighties: Manhire, Curnow, Stead, Horrocks", by [[Michele Leggott]], in ''World Literature Written in English'' (Singapore), 23(1), winter 1984. 
* "Writing through the Margins: Sharon Thesen's and Bill Manhire's Apparently Lyrical Poetry" by Douglas Barbour, in ''Australian and New Zealand Studies in Canada'' (Prince George, British Columbia, Canada), 4, Fall 1990. 
* "The Old Man's Example: Manhire in the Seventies" by [[John Newton (poet)|John Newton]], in ''Opening the Book'', edited by Mark Williams and Michele Leggott, Auckland, [[Auckland University Press]], 1995.
* ''[http://researcharchive.vuw.ac.nz/handle/10063/2947 Elaborations: a selective annotated bibliography of reviews and commentaries on the poetry and short stories of Bill Manhire from 1967 to 2002]'', by Laurinda Elizabeth Thomas, Victoria University of Wellington, 2003.
* ''Manhire at 60: A Book For Bill'', edited by [[Fergus Barrowman]] and [[Damien Wilkins (writer)|Damien Wilkins]], Wellington, Victoria University Press and ''[[Sport (New Zealand magazine)|Sport]]'', 2006.

==External links==
{{commons category|Bill Manhire}}
* {{Twitter}}
* [https://www.read-nz.org/writer/manhire-bill/ Read NZ Te Pou Muramura profile]
* [http://www.nzepc.auckland.ac.nz/authors/manhire/index.asp New Zealand Electronic Poetry Centre profile]
* [http://www.artsfoundation.org.nz/bill-manhire.html Arts Foundation of New Zealand profile]
* [http://www.victoria.ac.nz/modernletters International Institute of Modern Letters]
* [http://quarteracre.net/brain/index.html Hypertext edition of ''The Brain of Katherine Mansfield'' (1988)], illustrated by [[Gregory O'Brien]] and digitised by Richard Easther and Jolisa Gracewood in 1997
* [https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2020/sep/28/poem-of-the-week-huia-by-bill-manhire "Huia" by Bill Manhire], featured poem in ''The Guardian''

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{{s-ttl|title=[[New Zealand Poet Laureate]]|years=1997–1999}}
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{{New Zealand Poets Laureate}}
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[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit]]
[[Category:People educated at Otago Boys' High School]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century New Zealand poets]]
[[Category:20th-century New Zealand male writers]]
[[Category:New Zealand poets laureate]]
[[Category:New Zealand male poets]]
[[Category:People from Invercargill]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington]]
[[Category:21st-century New Zealand poets]]
[[Category:21st-century New Zealand male writers]]
[[Category:University of Otago alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of University College London]]