Words that connect: Associate Professor Robert Sullivan becomes New Zealand Poet Laureate

For Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University’s Associate Professor of Creative Writing Robert Sullivan (Ngāpuhi, Kāi Tahu), being named Aotearoa New Zealand’s Poet Laureate is not only a gift from the community, but also a powerful personal recognition of his decades of contribution to poetry and the arts.

“My first thought was, how do I honour this gift? Poetry has never been a solitary pursuit for me. I’ve collaborated with other writers, artists, illustrators, editors, publishers and composers. In a sense, I’m part of a collective. To be named Poet Laureate affirms those cultural, whakapapa and artistic connections,” Dr Sullivan says.

Dr Sullivan, the author of nine acclaimed poetry collections and an award-winning voice recognised internationally, is only the second Māori poet to hold the laureateship since its inception in 1996 — following in the footsteps of the legendary Hone Tuwhare, whose work remains a source of deep inspiration for him.

College of Humanities and Social Sciences Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Cynthia White explains how Dr Sullivan’s newly appointed role is a richly deserved honour.

“Importantly, in his contribution to the creative writing programme at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and now at Massey University he acknowledges the personal and social benefits of developing creative works.

“The reach of Robert's work as Poet Laureate and as an Indigenous writer will continue to be across generations and communities in Aotearoa and beyond, as in his Star Waka poetry 'And you stars, the ancestors....burn on waka in the night, burn on waka past the end of the light'.”

Dr Sullivan’s vision for the laureateship is to ‘normalise poetry in the everyday’. Based in Oamaru, he dreams of setting up a poet laureate shop with a weekly golden hour, where people can drop in to discuss or workshop their poems. He wants to create a sense of accessibility and belonging, where poetry is not something distant or academic, but as a living, breathing artform anyone can step into.

“We live in such a digital, screen-based world, but poems draw us back to what matters, to the present moment, to noticing where we’ve come from, to staying hopeful. Poems are there at funerals, birthdays, weddings. They are those moments when we call on our eulogy values rather than our CV values. They help us make sense of joy, of grief, of love.”

Connection is central to Dr Sullivan’s aspirations. As president of the New Zealand Poetry Society, he already helps foster new writing through an annual anthology. As Laureate, he hopes to expand this sense of community through national reading events in libraries and perhaps even a hui of Māori poets.

At the heart of his approach is the conviction that poetry is for everyone and the most accessible art form in that every rule can be broken.

“These days I’m mostly a page poet, but I began in performance. What hasn’t changed is the soulful nature of words and the many ways poetry can be carried into the world, through song, rap, hip hop, spoken word, collections, or even a single post online. Poetry takes many forms, but its essence is the same.”

Dr Sullivan’s own journey as a poet has been shaped by cultural diversity and movement. From growing up in South Auckland, to time spent in Hawai‘i and with whakapapa ties stretching from Kāretu to Ireland’s west coast, the idea of “home” is both physical and imagined. This richness of perspective weaves through his work, alongside inspiration from his whānau and the flowering of Māori writing in Aotearoa.

“Voices like Tayi Tibble, essa may ranapiri, Hinemoana Baker and Whiti Hereaka, as well as the enduring influence of writers such as Patricia Grace, Keri Hulme, Witi Ihimaera and of course, Hone Tuwhare. They have all helped to inspire and shape my writing.”

He explains that both of his parents were hugely influential in his writing and career. They were the first people he thought of when hearing the news about the laureateship.

“Mum would talk about our whānau in Kāretu in the Bay of Islands all the time, so it was like I lived there even though I grew up in Auckland. My poems are full of her stories. My father helped to publish a poetry journal, Print Out, which ran for 10 years which I co-edited with the Auckland Writers Workshop.”

Asked what advice he would give to emerging poets, Dr Sullivan pauses before offering words that sound very much like poetry themselves: “Trust in poetry to give you the gifts you need. Read widely. Take your time. Be vulnerable. And for Māori poets — after you do the work, it’s okay to be the sweetest kūmara. Mahia te mahi.”