Recognised as one of the most influential and defining voices of New Zealand literature in the 20thcentury, Allen Curnows reputation as a poet and author stands to this day. Between 1937 and 1988, he published 2250 satirical (and very topical) verses in啦堯梗泭捩娶梗莽莽泭硃紳餃泭The New Zealand Herald, under the penname Whim Wham. Alongside his satire, Allen published 21 volumes of poems, seven of which received New Zealands annual Book Award for Poetry. Awarded the Commonwealth Poetry Prize in 1988, the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 1989 and theCholmondleyAward in 1992, Allen was also appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1986 and to the Order of New Zealand in 1990.
Photo credit: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections: 34-81 (Clifton Firth)
