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Wystan, my thoughts are with you. Several weeks ago I had the pleasure, with John O'Connor of Sudden Valley Press, to meet Allen and his wife at Christchurch International Airport, and to escort them to their hotel prior to a public reading as part of the Christchurch Arts Festival. Allen was gracious, and active if frail; he talked of his reluctance to release new work, of how he liked to keep it at home until he was certain (or as certain as any fallible man could be) of its worth. I commented that too many of his younger colleagues here turn out work as if it was just this week's product. Allen twinkled, and responded to the effect that poetry had an obligation not just to the reader but also to God. There was nothing portentous in this; he spoke with a faith that was as strong as it was quiet. The epigraph of my latest collection comes from Allen: Twenty years. A child returned Discerns in quicksand his own footprint Brimming and fading, vanishing. And in a recent interview, due to be published next month in Glottis, I reaffirm my (hardly original) belief that he is 'exceptional in every sense'. David Howard www.relevents.org ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wystan Curnow (FOA ENG)" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, September 24, 2001 2:49 PM Subject: [POETRYETC] allen curnow > My father died last night shortly after seven. There are I know many on > the list > who know his work and who will be saddened by his death. > > He didn't suffer. A cold that had gone to his chest on Saturday was a > concern > and he went to hospital. By the end of the day and a range of tests all > seemed well > but he was to stay there for a day or two under observation. After dinner > last night > his heart stopped all of a sudden. > > He turned 90 this year. His last book, The Bells of St Babels, Auckland > University Press, > came out earlier this year and won the Montana Prize for Poetry. The > Carcanet edition > will be published this week. He had given quite a few readings this year, > the last being > a week ago in Auckland. Just before that he was in the studio recording a > three hours selection > of his work for the BBC archives. As all this suggests, he surrendered > very little to age > before it ran out of patience with him. > > Long live poetry! > > Wystan. >