23 May 2021

The bard of the West Coast, the late Peter Hooper

From Standing Room Only, 1:50 pm on 23 May 2021

Painter Colin McCahon was so enchanted by the poetry of West Coaster Peter Hooper that he used his poems in several artworks.  .

20 years after his death, Peter's published and previously unpublished poetry has finally found a home in an anthology called Rejoice Instead. 

The book is being launched at the upcoming Readers and Writers Festival at the little West Coast town of Blackball.

Greymouth-born, Peter Hooper was also a novelist, teacher, environmentalist and mentor to many young writers.

Lynn Freeman speaks to the editor of Rejoice Instead, Pat White - one of Peter's former students and writer of his biography - and to David Young, who went on to publish Peter's poetry in the 1970s.

Rejoice Instead: Collected Poems: Peter Hooper is published by Cold Hub Press.  It will be launched at the Blackball Readers and Writers Festival on Queen's Birthday Weekend.