For a man whose words spoke to generations of readers and arched across decades with a staggering versatility and excellence, there's little wonder there has been an outpouring of tributes to the passing of a true Aotearoa creative icon.

Sir Vincent O'Sullivan literally did it all in a career that has helped shape the history of this country and inspired countless other writers - both through direct encouragement and simply by doing what he did best.

To win prizes at the country's top book awards (in its many many incarnations) in multiple decades is jaw-dropping on its own. But to do it across multiple genres is a testament to what a unique talent O'Sullivan was.

After finishing third at the 1978 Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards with his novel The Boy, The Bridge, The River, O'Sullivan would go on to capture the Fiction prize twice (1982 for Dandy Edison for Lunch and Other Stories and 1994 with Let the River Stand), the poetry award twice (Seeing You Asked in 1999 and Nice Morning For It, Adam in 2005) as well as the Ockham for General Non-Fiction in 2020 with Ralph Hotere biography The Dark is Light Enough.

Throw in his mahi as a playwright and a scholar - as well as the aptitude to write successful short and long-form fiction - and you have a writing all-rounder that is without peer in Aotearoa.

As Steve Braunias writes for The Reading Room, "He won everything and he earned a knighthood and he was a senior literary figure to the point that he was a living monument to himself until his death in the weekend at 86, but there was something about Vincent O’Sullivan that flew under the radar, that was independent and separate and free, too, of the routine blather of New Zealand literary life. 

"The best of him – his fluency, his depth of mind – was in his books, that amazing range of novels, short stories, poetry, essays, and reviews, and he also produced important work as an editor and anthologist; his only contemporary equal and rival was CK Stead, likewise a brilliant academic who wrote across genres, but Vincent went further, as a biographer and playwright."

With his passing in Port Chalmers, the ODT quoted Dunedin writer and friend of O'Sullivan Philip Temple who underlined "Nobody could equal what he has done...He had this amazing faculty to keep writing terrific poems and fascinating stories.

"Other writers tended to be more widely known, but that’s partly because he was a more private person."

University Press publisher Fergus Barrowman told RNZ "He'll be one of our greatest writers, and I think that the popular regard and the critical regard is only going to grow as people read and read more deeply and start connecting the dots between the disparate parts of his ire.

"The breadth of his talent was quite extraordinary".

Barrowman's been working on the release of O'Sullivan's latest and sadly last new collection of poems, Still Is, due to be released next month, further evidence of how his incredible ability.

The recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement for Poetry, O'Sullivan was a mentor and champion to many within the writing community - just last year, he added his eye for talent and gravitas to the Sargeson short story prize as judge. 

Dame Fiona Kidman comments "It was difficult to think of somebody in Wellington in those early years when I first knew him, in the '70s, who didn't have a Vincent story, some bit of quick wit that they could repeat and pass on. He was just such an amazing raconteur.

"But he was also, I have to say, one of the most generous of men. I was in awe of him in those early years.

"He was somebody who I think helped to shape New Zealand literature in those early years."

Peter Ireland, The National Library's Gallery and Exhibitions Specialist, and Poet Laureate minder recalls when O'Sullivan was appointed NZ Poet Laureate in 2013.

"He made his intentions clear early on: ‘I don’t think many prescriptions for poetry stand up apart from one – if it isn’t individual, if it’s not “the cry of its occasion”, then why aren’t we doing something else.’ 

"His time as Laureate was marked by a generosity towards and recognition of fellow poets in New Zealand and around the world, with a special place reserved for the voices of the oppressed poet."

 O'Sullivan combined his writing with an academic career. Having studied at the University of Auckland and then at Oxford - he would go on to teach many future creative minds at Waikato University and Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington as an English lecturer, with six years of fellowships across New Zealand and Australia to his name.

A former literary editor of the New Zealand Listener, O’Sullivan also worked tirelessly to uplift the work of some of this country's fellow creative luminaries. He is well known internationally for his work editing eight volumes of writing by Katherine Mansfield - along with Margaret Scott - and has produced highly acclaimed biographies of James K. Baxter and John Mulgan to go with his award-winning Hotere book.

Creative New Zealand mourned the passing "of a great Tōtara of Aotearoa New Zealand arts", stating "Sir Vincent’s impact on the arts and letters – including across literature, theatre and music - has been immeasurable.... (O'Sullivan) leaves a significant legacy to the arts in Aotearoa."

The Spinoff has been sharing stories from those who knew and admired O'Sullivan in a long list of tributes, while on social media, podcaster Phil Quin tweeted "Always warm + engaging, Vincent possessed a formidable intellect alongside an admirable intolerance for bullshit."

O'Sullivan’s Requiem Mass will take place at 1.30 pm on Friday 3 May at St Mary of the Angel’s, Boulcott Street, Wellington.