John Dickson – 1988

'I wish to thank the University of Otago (and specifically the Department of English), for awarding me the honour of the Robert Burns Fellowship in 1988. Most of the poems in this book were begun during the time I was the Fellow.' So wrote John Dickson in The Sleeper, his second collection of poetry, finally published in 1998. Writing is an exacting craft, and many writers, like Dickson, have faced the dilemma of a beginning. As he writes: 'Tomorrow, I'll start something new.'

John Dickson, The Sleeper. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1998. Bill Robertson Library 821 NZ DIC.