Bub Bridger
{{short description|New Zealand writer and performer}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=June 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox writer
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| name = Bub Bridger
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|07|15|df=y}}
| birth_place = Napier, New Zealand
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2009|12|08|1924|07|15|df=y}}
| death_place = Granity, New Zealand
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| genre = Poetry
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| notable_works = Up Here on the Hill, Wild Daisies: The Best of Bub Bridger
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Noeline Edith "Bub" Bridger {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MNZM|size=85%}} (15 July 1924 – 8 December 2009) was a New Zealand poet and short story writer and actor,{{cite web |url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/16764/writer-bub-bridger-dies-at-85 |title=Writer Bub Bridger dies at 85 |date=8 December 2009 |work=Radio New Zealand |access-date=22 September 2011 |archive-date=20 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180420070458/http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/16764/writer-bub-bridger-dies-at-85 |url-status=live }} who often performed her own work and drew inspiration from her Māori, Irish and English ancestry.
Early life
Bridger was born in Napier, New Zealand, of Ngāti Kahungunu and Irish descent.{{cite news| url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/obituaries/3156858/Free-spirit-who-tamed-words| title=Free spirit who tamed words| work=Stuff| date=14 December 2009| first=Peter| last=Kitchin| access-date=17 June 2021| archive-date=15 January 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115224831/http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/obituaries/3156858/Free-spirit-who-tamed-words| url-status=live}}{{cite web| url=https://www.read-nz.org/writer/bridger-bub/| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210613063943/https://www.read-nz.org/writer/bridger-bub/| archive-date=13 June 2021| title=Bridger, Bub| publisher= Read NZ Te Pou Muramura| access-date=13 June 2021}} She grew up in Napier during the depression years. She attended several primary schools in the region followed by Napier Intermediate, and then one year at Napier Girls' High School. She left school after the third form and found work in Napier in local factories. In 1942, Bridger moved with her father to Wellington and worked in the Social Security Department. She married and had four children, but the marriage failed and she raised the children on her own.{{cite web|url=https://www.komako.org.nz/person/83| title=Bub Bridger| publisher= Kōmako - A bibliography of writing by Māori in English| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609073836/https://www.komako.org.nz/person/83| archive-date=9 June 2021}}
Writing
Bridger was interested in writing from an early age. During her school years, she excelled in reading and writing. After her children had grown up, at the age of 50 she enrolled in a creative writing course being held at Victoria University in 1974, taught by Michael King. Describing her experience at this course, she said: "Michael was the one who showed me the way. When he read my first short story he said: 'You are going to be a writer.'"
Bridger's first published story, "The Stallion", featured in the New Zealand Listener in 1975.
Her writing was largely anthologized and she published several book-length collections of poetry, including Up Here on the Hill (1989) and Wild Daises: The Best of Bub Bridger. Her writing is known for its energy, comedy and the use of fantasy.
Performance
Bridger was a well-known performer who acted on stage, notably with Hens' Teeth Women's Comedy Company, and she also wrote for television and broadcast radio.
Later years
Honours and awards
In the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, Bridger was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to literature.{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-and-golden-jubilee-honours-list-2002 |title=Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee honours list 2002 |date=3 June 2002 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=25 June 2020 |archive-date=6 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006001111/https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-and-golden-jubilee-honours-list-2002 |url-status=live }}
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |editor1-first=Albert |editor1-last=Wendt |editor1-link=Albert Wendt |editor2-first=Reina |editor2-last=Whaitiri |editor2-link=Reina Whaitiri |editor3-first=Robert |editor3-last=Sullivan|editor3-link=Robert Sullivan (poet) |title=Mauri Ola: Contemporary Polynesian Poems in English |location=Auckland |publisher=Auckland UP |date=September 2010 |isbn=9781869404482}}
External links
- [https://www.komako.org.nz/person/83 Bub Bridger] at Kōmako
- [https://www.read-nz.org/writer/bridger-bub/ Bub Bridger] at Read NZ Te Pou Muramura
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Category:New Zealand women poets
Category:New Zealand women short story writers
Category:New Zealand Māori writers
Category:20th-century New Zealand writers
Category:New Zealand people of English descent
Category:New Zealand people of Irish descent
Category:20th-century New Zealand poets
Category:20th-century New Zealand short story writers
Category:20th-century New Zealand women writers
Category:Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Category:Ngāti Kahungunu people