| Allen Curnow (1911-2001) is a central figure in the emergence of an authentic New Zealand literature. A clue to this pivotal role can perhaps be traced in the fruitful duality of his parentage: born in Timaru he was the son of a clergyman and fourth generation New Zealander, and of an English mother who never felt entirely at home in her adopted country. Originally destined for the church, Curnow converted to doubt and instead pursued a career in journalism. Following a post-war trip to England he joined the English Department at Auckland University where he taught from the 1950s to 1976. His first collection appeared in 1933 but it was his editorship of two landmark anthologies that sealed his reputation: A Book of New Zealand Verse, and The Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse. These proved equally influential and controversial in their assertion of "some common problem of the imagination" particular to the New Zealander's situation. Curnow's importance was recognised by numerous awards including the New Zealand Book Award which he won six times, the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, Cholmondeley Award and the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. He was given a CBE in 1986 and received the Order of New Zealand in 1990.
1 Continuum 1.30
2 Do Not Touch the Exhibits 2.52
3 Survivors 1.26
4 A Raised Voice 2.24
5 A Time of Day 2.29
6 Narita 2.23
7 A Sight for Sore Eyes 3.12
8 Blind Man's Holiday 7.30
9 Gare SNCF Garavan 2.34
10 Things to Do with Moonlight 5.13
11 You Will Know When You Get There 1.50
12 A Passion for Travel 2.29
13 Ten Steps to the Sea 3.48
14 The Bells of Saint Babel's 5.36
15 The Pocket Compass 1.21
16 For Peter Porter at Seventy 4.06
17 Fantasia and Fugue for Pan-pipe 4.45
Total length of the recording 56.00
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