Louis Albert Johnson (1924-88) was a prolific and increasingly skilled poet himself, an encouraging mentor for younger and aspiring poets, and an important anthology editor in the 1950s and early 60s. With his own poems published from 1944 onwards (and extending posthumously to 1990, and 1998), he became in the 1950s a key member of the so-called “Wellington group” of poets, which included, among others, James K. Baxter, Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, the Englishman Peter Bland, and the Norwegian Anton Vogt. Its nature was implicitly defined by contrast with that of an “Auckland group” that included Allen Curnow (from 1951, having moved from Christchurch), M. K. Joseph, Kendrick Smithyman, Bill Pearson, Professor J. C. Reid, C. K. Stead, and others (there were other poets in both…
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Citation: Ross, John C.. "Louis Johnson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 November 2018 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2384, accessed 19 April 2024.]
