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Chris Tse (New Zealand writer)

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Chris Tse
Tse in 2024
Tse in 2024
Born1982 (age 41–42)
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Occupation
  • Poet
  • short story writer
  • editor
LanguageEnglish
Alma materVictoria University of Wellington
Notable worksHow to be Dead in a Year of Snakes
Notable awards

Chris Tse (born 1982) is a New Zealand poet, short story writer and editor. His works explore questions of identity, including his Chinese heritage and queer identity. His first full-length poetry collection, How to be Dead in a Year of Snakes, won the Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book of Poetry at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards in 2016. In 2022, he was appointed as the New Zealand Poet Laureate from 2022 to 2024. In February 2024, his term was extended by another year.

Background

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Tse was born in 1982 in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. He is of Chinese heritage, which is the subject of much of his work.[1] He began writing poetry as a teenager.[2] He studied film and English literature at Victoria University of Wellington, where he also completed a Master of Arts degree in creative writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters.[1]

Tse lives and works in Wellington.[1][3]

Works

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The major themes of Tse's writing include identity, his Chinese heritage and the experiences of Chinese immigrants to New Zealand in the twentieth century.[1][4][5] In 2009 he won an award for his short story, "At Two Speeds", in a competition held by the New Zealand Listener and the New Zealand Chinese Association.[1]

Tse's first appearance in a major publication was the joint collection AUP New Poets 4 (with Harry Jones and Erin Scudder), published by Auckland University Press in 2011).[1][6] Tse's section in the book, "Sing Joe", recounts his great-grandfather's immigration to New Zealand at the turn of the twentieth century, as well as Tse's own return to China as an adult.[6][7]

In 2014, Auckland University Press published Tse's first full-length collection, How to be Dead in a Year of Snakes.[8] The collection is a book-length sequence that revisits the 1905 murder of Joe Kum Yung who was shot and killed by Lionel Terry.[1] How to be Dead in a Year of Snakes was a finalist in the poetry category at the 2016 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, where it won the Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book of Poetry.[9][10]

Tse's second collection, He's So MASC, was published by Auckland University Press in March 2018.[11] The collection explores themes of identity, sexuality and pop culture.[5][12][13]

In November 2021, Auckland University Press published Out Here: An Anthology of Takatapui and LGBTQIA+ writers from Aotearoa, edited by Tse and poet Emma Barnes.[14] The anthology is the first major anthology of queer writing published in New Zealand, featuring 69 writers from across the rainbow spectrum.[14][15]

In 2022, Auckland University Press published Tse's third collection, Super Model Minority. The collection expands on themes from his previous collections and has been described as the final part in 'a loose trilogy'. [16][17] In 2023, the collection was longlisted for the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards[18] and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry.[19][20]

Poet Laureate

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In August 2022, the National Library of New Zealand named Chris Tse as the next New Zealand Poet Laureate.[2] He was the youngest person appointed to the role to date.[21] Tse told Stuff News that the work of previous poet laureates had meant "so much" to him as a young poet, and that he wanted to use his platform to move poetry into the mainstream more.[2]

In February 2024, the National Library extended the position of New Zealand Poet Laureate from a two-year tenure to a three-year term. Tse's term now ends in August 2025.[22][23]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Tse, Chris". Read NZ Te Pou Muramura. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Chumko, André (26 August 2022). "Chris Tse is New Zealand's next poet laureate". Stuff News. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  3. ^ "This reading life: Chris Tse". Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Writing in a Year of Snakes". The Big Idea. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Poetry Shelf interviews Chris Tse". NZ Poetry Shelf. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  6. ^ a b AUP New Poets 4. Auckland University Press. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  7. ^ Ascroft, Nick (31 October 2011). "Hazing with Cricket Balls". Landfall Review Online. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  8. ^ a b How to be Dead in a Year of Snakes by Chris Tse. Auckland University Press. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Past Winners by year: 2016 | New Zealand Book Awards Trust". New Zealand Book Awards Trust. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  10. ^ "David Coventry and Chris Tse win Best First Books at 2016 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards | International Institute of Modern Letters | Victoria University of Wellington". Victoria University of Wellington. 10 May 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  11. ^ He's so MASC. Auckland University Press. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  12. ^ "Chris Tse: he's so MASC". Radio New Zealand. 26 March 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Working Against a System That is Working Against Them: Contemporary LGBTQIA+ Writers in Aotearoa". Pantograph Punch. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  14. ^ a b "Out Here: An anthology of Takatāpui and LGBTQIA+ writers from Aotearoa". Auckland University Press. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  15. ^ Sergent, Jean (14 November 2021). "Celebrating a landmark anthology of queer New Zealand writing". The Spinoff. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Super Model Minority". Auckland University Press. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  17. ^ "We Teeter Atop an Environmental Cliff". Landfall Review Online. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  18. ^ "Awards 2023 | New Zealand Book Awards Trust". www.nzbookawards.nz. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  19. ^ "TWO POETRY BOOKS SHORTLISTED IN THE LAMMY AWARDS 2023". Auckland University Press. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  20. ^ Mackey, Joshua S. (16 March 2023). "Check Out This Year's 35th Annual Lambda Literary Awards Finalists". INTO. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  21. ^ Draper, Emily (Autumn 2024). "Q&A". AA Directions. p. 11. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  22. ^ "Arts News for 25 February 2024". RNZ. 25 February 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  23. ^ "Term of the NZ Poet Laureate award extended". natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
Cultural offices
Preceded by New Zealand Poet Laureate
2022–present 		Incumbent
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