About the Author

Gordon Challis was born in England and moved to New Zealand in 1954. He began writing poetry while studying psychology and social work at Victoria University, and his poems were widely published in literary periodicals and in his first book, Building (1963). However, the intense pressures of his work in mental health care led him to abandon writing, and he published no poetry for many years. After his retirement Gordon found -- to his surprise - that writing slowly began returning to him. He now lives in Golden Bay and has published three volumes of poetry.