New Zealand Writers

CRESSWELL, Mary

A dynamic and clever poet

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.

(LK)

Links

'When they lost the plot we had only the notes to go on' a poem in Blackbird
'The Group Manager Addresses Her Mirror' six poems in The Hypertexts
'Apex' a poem in Snorkel
'Golden Weather (Cook Strait)' Best New Zealand Poems 2005