Bluff poet, Cilla McQueen, has been appointed New Zealand Poet Laureate for 2009 – 2011 at a ceremony in the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa.

The Minister responsible for the National Library, the Hon Nathan Guy, made the announcement. The National Library administers the award.

"We’re delighted to have a poet of Cilla McQueen’s stature and ability as a performer of poetry as Poet Laureate," said John Mohi, Director Maori, Pacific and International, National Library, and member of the New Zealand Poet Laureate Advisory Group.

"As well as producing a collection of poetry, the Poet Laureate’s role is to raise national awareness of the value of reading and writing poetry. We look forward to working with Cilla to shape a vibrant programme of activities, while balancing her need for time to write," Mr Mohi said.

Commenting on the award, Cilla McQueen said ‘it’s really nice to hear that people have been reading my poetry. The flipside of the isolation of Bluff is that I don’t have much direct connection with other writers. I’m happy to think that my poetry has a place in the everyday world.”

“It also means that that for two years I’ll have an income I can be sure of because for the last 30 years I’ve stubbornly gone on being a poet living on the edge. I’m also greatly looking forward to working with National Library on the programme for the Laureateship,” she said.

The Poet Laureate receives a minimum of $70,000 over two years. The balance of the fund goes to a two-year programme of Poet Laureate activities to promote poetry.

Cilla McQueen is the second person to receive the National Library New Zealand Poet Laureate award, taking over from the 2007 appointee, Aucklander Michele Leggott. The National Library award replaced the Te Mata Estate Poet Laureate award, which celebrated five Poet Laureates.

Cilla McQueen was born in Birmingham in 1949 and moved to New Zealand as a child. Although much of her life has been lived in and around Dunedin, for the last 13 years she has lived in Bluff.

She’s produced 10 collections of poetry and a CD, first with Dunedin publisher John McIndoe and latterly with Otago University Press. Her many awards include three New Zealand Book Awards, a Fulbright Visiting Writer’s Fellowship, a Goethe Institute Scholarship to Berlin and two Burns Fellowships at Otago University. Last year she was made an Honorary Doctor of Literature by Otago University.

The National Librarian and Chief Executive of the National Library, Penny Carnaby, made the Poet Laureate appointment after advice from the New Zealand Poet Laureate Advisory Group.  

Criteria for appointment are that the Poet Laureate will:
·    have made an outstanding contribution to New Zealand poetry
·    be an accomplished and highly regarded poet
·    be able to adequately fulfil the public role required of a Poet Laureate
·    be a strong advocate for poetry.

The Poetry Laureate Advisory Group for 2009 was chaired by Penny Carnaby. The members were John Buck, Executive Chairman of Te Mata Estate, Bill Manhire, Director of the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University, John Mohi of the National Library and Michele Leggott 2007 Poet Laureate.