Chris Tse becomes New Zealand Poet Laureate Award / Appointment

INFO

Name	Chris Tse becomes New Zealand Poet Laureate
Year	2022
Award / Appointment	Poet Laureate
Supporting / Awarding Institution	National Library of New Zealand
Artform	Literature

ABOUT

On Friday 23 August 2022 — to coincide with National Poetry Day — Chris Tse was named the 13th New Zealand Poet Laureate, a title accompanied by a stipend of $40,000 per annum for two years.

The role of the New Zealand Poet Laureate is to promote Aotearoa poets, to promote and advocate for poetry, and to produce poetry. As Tse told RNZ:

I really want this to be a Laureateship that brings everyone along with me: poets, publishers, writers, reviewers, bookstores, readers, audiences around New Zealand. I am really inspired by how Selina Tusitala Marsh carried out her time as Poet Laureate and I want this to be for everyone, not just myself.

Tse was inaugurated in Hawke’s Bay in April 2023 at Matahiwi Marae where he was presented with a tokotoko named 知識 (meaning ‘knowledge), carved by Jacob Scott. In January 2024, acting on the advice of the Poet Laureate Advisory Group, the National Library extended the tenure from two years to three years as standard for the honour. His term was extended to the end of August 2025, for which he received an extra $40,000 stipend.

For the selection of the Poet Laureate, public nominations are considered by the New Zealand Poet Laureate Advisory Group. A campaign to appoint Tse began when co-editor of Starling Magazine, Francis Cooke, gathered about 35 New Zealand writers in a Facebook Messenger group chat named “Aotearoa’s Next Top Poet Laureate”, suggesting that members nominate Tse while keeping it a secret from him.

Tse is the first Poet Laureate with Asian whakapapa and the first openly queer Poet Laureate. Receiving the honour at the age of 39, Tse is also the youngest person to be appointed to the role. He said, “to receive something like this at a comparatively early stage of my career is a confidence boost.”

Then-director of The Pantograph Punch, Van Mei, had “this big weird feeling of history being made, and of hope and excitement for my contemporaries”, as they saw Tse as a mentor and “one of the few writers representing the Asian population hard against the low percentage of Asian poets that have had books published in Aotearoa.” Te Pouhaki National Librarian Rachel Esson described his appointment as a recognition of “a poet leading a generational and cultural shift in the reach and appreciation of poetry in Aotearoa.”