Cresswell, Mary
IN BRIEF
Mary Cresswell is a poet and science editor. She has also worked as a copy editor and proofreader. Cresswell was born in Los Angeles and moved to New Zealand in 1970. Her poetry has appeared in literary journals in New Zealand, Australia, the US, Canada and the UK. Mark Houlahan writes, ‘Cresswell’s poems often use a taut syllabic verse, with six or four compact syllables tempting the reader into the next line and beyond’.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cresswell, Mary (1937 -) is a poet and science editor.
Cresswell was born in Los Angeles. She spent time living in both Germany and Japan before settling in New Zealand in 1970.
Professionally she has worked as a science editor, copy editor and proofreader.
A widely published poet, Cresswell’s work has appeared in literary journals in New Zealand, Australia, the US, Canada and the UK. In 2003 she was one of the four poets who co-authored the collection Millionaire’s Shortbread.
Writing in the Dominion Post, Mark Houlahan notes that 'Cresswell’s poems often use a taut syllabic verse, with six or four compact syllables tempting the reader into the next line and beyond', he goes on to describe her work as both 'funny and poetic'.
Mary Cresswell lives on the Kapiti Coast.
Media links and clips
- Mary Cresswell’s poem 'When they lost the plot we had only the notes to go on' in Blackbird
- 'The Group Manager Addresses Her Mirror' - six poems by Mary Cresswell in The Hypertexts
- 'Apex' – a poem by Mary Cresswell in Snorkel
- Mary Cresswell in Best New Zealand Poems 2005
