Farewell Alistair Te Ariki Campbell

Like everyone else in the local poetry community, I was really sad to hear of Alistair Campbell’s recent death. It was nice to be able to remember him at the Voyagers launch with others who knew him.

I met Alistair Campbell a couple of times, though I certainly wouldn’t say I knew him. I was lucky enough to have heard him read a few times, and after I’d proofread It’s Love Isn’t It? – the wonderful collection of poems by Alistair and Meg Campbell that Mark Pirie of HeadworX published last year – we traded books. I have a lovely postcard he sent, telling me that my book cheered him on a bad day. I’ll treasure it.

He was the writer in residence at Vic in my first year there. He was a writer of much mana and stature. I hope he’s been reunited with Meg somewhere. They’ll both be missed.