Sue Wootton (born 1961) is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

writer, specialising in poetry and short fiction.

Early life and family

Wootton was born in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

in 1961, and spent much of her early life in

Wanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest nav ...

before moving to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

, where she attended the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

. She trained as a physiotherapist and worked in that field for twenty years.Wootton, Sue
, New Zealand Book Council, 12 November 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2015. She has three children with her ex-husband, the lawyer and politician David Parker.

Literary career

Wootton received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in English literature in 2003, and published her first selection of poetry, ''Hourglass'', in 2005. In 2008, Wootton was awarded the

Robert Burns Fellowship The Robert Burns Fellowship is a New Zealand literary residency. Established in 1958 to coincide with bicentennial celebrations of the birth of Robert Burns, it is often claimed to be New Zealand's premier literary residency. The list of past ...

by the University of Otago.The Robert Burns Fellowship - Previous Recipients
, University of Otago. Retrieved 6 March 2015. She graduated from

Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...

with a Master of Creative Writing in 2015 and completed her

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degree at the University of Otago in 2020. Her doctoral thesis discussed "how stories and poetry can contribute to a better understanding of what being well means." Her works have appeared in numerous poetry anthologies and other publications, among them ''Under Flagstaff: An Anthology of Dunedin Poetry'' (University of Otago Press, 2004), ''

Landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

'', ''Swings and Roundabouts: Poems on Parenthood'' (Random House, 2008), and ''Poetry Pudding'' (Reed, 2007). Three short stories by Wootton appeared in the anthology ''The Happiest Music on Earth'' (Rosa Mira Books, 2013). ''Strip'', her first novel, was published by

Mākaro Press Mākaro Press is a New Zealand publisher based in Wellington. It was founded in 2013 and has published several award-winning books including ''Auē'' by Becky Manawatu. History Mākaro was founded in 2013 by novelist and editor Mary McCallu ...

in 2016. The novel was written during Wootton's masters study at Massey University. ''Strip'' was longlisted in the 2017

Ockham New Zealand Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder Wa ...

. Her fifth poetry collection, ''The Yield'', was longlisted in the 2018 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Wootton was the recipient of the 2018

NZSA Peter & Dianne Beatson Fellowship The NZSA Peter & Dianne Beatson Fellowship (known informally as the Foxton Fellowship) is an annual literary fellowship in New Zealand established by Peter and Dianne Beatson in 2001. History and conditions The fellowship was set up by Peter an ...

and the 2020

Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship The Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship, formerly known as the New Zealand Post Katherine Mansfield Prize and the Meridian Energy Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellowship, is one of New Zealand's foremost literary awards. Named after Katherine ...

. Previous awards she has won include the 2007 Inverawe Poetry Competition in Tasmania, the 2010 New Zealand Poetry Society International Poetry competition, and the 2013 Cancer Council Victoria Arts Awards poetry prize. Wootton was runner-up in the BNZ Katherine Mansfield short story awards in 2009 and 2010, and a finalist in the 2008 ''

The Sunday Star-Times The ''Sunday Star-Times'' is a New Zealand newspaper published each weekend in Auckland. It covers both national and international news, and is a member of the New Zealand Press Association and Newspaper Publishers Association of New Zealand ...

'' short story competition.Wootton's website
/ref> In 2021 she was named publisher at

Otago University Press Otago University Press is an academic publisher associated with the University of Otago. The press is located in Dunedin, New Zealand. The Otago University Press is the oldest academic publisher in New Zealand. The Otago University Press publis ...

Books

Poetry

*''Hourglass'' (Steele Roberts, 2005) *''Magnetic South'' (Steele Roberts, 2008) *''By Birdlight'' (Steele Roberts, 2011) *
Out of Shape
' (Ampersand Duck, 2013) *
The Yield
' (Otago University Press, 2017)

Fiction

*
Strip
' (Mākaro Press, 2016)

Short fiction

*''The Happiest Music on Earth'' (Rosa Mira Books, 2013) *''Cloudcatcher'' (Steele Roberts, 2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wootton, Sue 1961 births Living people Writers from Dunedin New Zealand short story writers New Zealand women short story writers New Zealand poets New Zealand women poets New Zealand novelists New Zealand women novelists New Zealand publishers (people) University of Otago alumni Massey University alumni