David Eggleton

David Eggleton, who is of Rotuman, Tongan and Palagi ancestry, grew up in Fiji and South Auckland and now lives in Dunedin, in New Zealand/Aotearoa. He is a poet, art critic, writer, editor and freelance journalist who has won the Reviewer of the Year Award six times at the Montana-New Zealand Book Awards, most recently in 2009. He has had seven books of poems and a book of short fiction published, as well as a number of works of non-fiction. His latest collection, The Conch Trumpet, was published in 2015 by Otago University Press. Well-known as a performance poet, he has also released several poetry recordings featuring his collaborations with musicians, and been involved in poetry text collaborations with practitioners of a variety of other art forms, from sculpture to fashion design. His first collection of poems was co-winner of the PEN New Zealand Best First Book of Poems Award in 1987. His poetry and short stories appear in a wide range of recent anthologies.