Two additions for Dunedin Writers' Walk

By ODT - Hamish MacLean | Posted:

Two Dunedin writers have been added to the Dunedin Writers’ Walk.

Short-story writer the late OE (Ted) Middleton and poet Peter Olds were celebrated at an official plaque unveiling at the Dunedin library on Friday afternoon.

Dunedin Unesco City of Literature director Nicky Page called the gathering of family and friends ‘‘heartwarming, heartfelt, and actually very moving’’.

‘‘I know everyone in the room feels exactly the same way.’’

Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins said the writers’ walk in the Octagon celebrating the city’s great writers was an ever-present reminder of why the city had been designated by Unesco as a city of literature.

It had also started discussion in the city over who was included and who was conspicuous in their absence, he said.

‘‘In recent times, largely driven by the community, some of those glaring omissions are being remedied,’’ Mr Hawkins said.

Both of the writers honoured yesterday were drawn to the city by the University of Otago’s Robert Burns Fellowship and ended up staying and becoming part of the cultural fabric of the city, Mr Hawkins said.

Cynthia Greensill read an extract from a story by her late partner, Middleton.

He would have been very pleased with his inclusion in the writers’ walk, she said.

‘‘It’s very nice that his plaque is next to old friends,’’ she said. ‘‘It feels like a gathering of people who used to enjoy each other’s company.’’

Cold Hub Press publisher Roger Hickin said both writers shared a fundamental authenticity.

‘‘Many of Ted’s stories sprang from his lived experience while many of Peter’s poems are a vivid record of what he has done and seen,’’ Mr Hickin said.

He said there were few writers as deserving of a plaque in the writers’ walk as Olds, who had written in and about Dunedin for more than 50 years.

‘‘He is Dunedin’s unofficial poet laureate,’’ he said.

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