Vincent O'Sullivan (New Zealand writer)

{{Short description|New Zealand writer and academic (1937–2024)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Sir Vincent O'Sullivan

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|KNZM|size=100%}}

| image = Vincent O'Sullivan KNZM (cropped).jpg

| image_size =

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| alt =

| caption = O'Sullivan in 2022

| order = 9th New Zealand Poet Laureate

| term_start = 2013

| term_end = 2015

| predecessor = Ian Wedde

| successor = C. K. Stead

| birth_name = Vincent Gerard O'Sullivan

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1937|09|28|df=y}}

| birth_place = Auckland, New Zealand

| death_date = {{Death date and age |2024|04|28|1937|09|28|df=y}}

| death_place = Dunedin, New Zealand

| resting_place =

| occupation = {{Cslist|Writer|academic}}

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| alma_mater = {{ubl|University of Auckland|University of Oxford}}

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| notable_works =

| spouse =

| partner =

| children = 2

| relatives = Dominic O'Sullivan (son)

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}}

Sir Vincent Gerard O'Sullivan {{post-nominals|country=NZL|size=100%|KNZM}} (28 September 1937 – 28 April 2024) was a New Zealand poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, critic, editor, biographer, librettist, and academic. From 1988 to 2004 he was a professor of English literature at Victoria University of Wellington, and in 2013 he was appointed the New Zealand Poet Laureate.

Background

Born in Auckland in 1937, O'Sullivan was the youngest of six children born to Timothy O'Sullivan (born in Tralee, Ireland) and Myra O'Sullivan (née McKean).{{cite web |title=Sir O'Sullivan Obituary |url=https://notices.nzherald.co.nz/nz/obituaries/nzherald-nz/name/sir-o-sullivan-obituary?id=54984154 |publisher=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=29 April 2024 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429193157/https://notices.nzherald.co.nz/nz/obituaries/nzherald-nz/name/sir-o-sullivan-obituary?id=54984154 |url-status=live }} He was educated at St Joseph's School in Grey Lynn, and Sacred Heart College, located in Ponsonby when he was there.{{cite book |last1=O'Sullivan |first1=Vincent |title=Selected poems |date=1992 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Auckland ; New York |isbn=019558242X |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eWEhAQAAIAAJ |access-date=28 April 2024 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429051003/https://books.google.com/books/about/Selected_Poems.html?id=eWEhAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }} He graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1959 and a Master of Arts with first-class honours the following year.{{cite web |url=http://shadowsoftime.co.nz/university18.html |title=NZ university graduates 1870–1961: Mu–O |website=Shadows of Time |access-date=29 April 2024 |archive-date=4 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100304070850/http://shadowsoftime.co.nz/university18.html |url-status=live }} He was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship, and completed a Master of Letters (MLitt) degree at Lincoln College, Oxford in 1962.{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Ireland |first1=Kevin |editor1-last=Hamilton |editor1-first=Ian |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry in English |title=O'Sullivan, Vincent |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780192800428.001.0001/acref-9780192800428-e-897 |access-date=29 April 2024 |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780191727580 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429050323/https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780192800428.001.0001/acref-9780192800428-e-897 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |url=https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/about/governance/university-publications/calendar/past/calendar_2001.pdf |title=Calendar 2001 |publisher=Victoria University of Wellington |chapter=Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |page=24 |access-date=29 April 2024 |archive-date=11 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211034241/https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/about/governance/university-publications/calendar/past/calendar_2001.pdf |url-status=live }}

O'Sullivan's first marriage was to Tui Rererangi Walsh, with whom he had two children; Deirdre and Dominic O'Sullivan.{{Cite tweet |last=O'Sullivan |first=Dominic |author-link=Dominic O'Sullivan |date=29 April 2024 |user=indigpolitics |number=1784604761263903165 |title=I am profoundly sad to share that my father, Emeritus Professor Sir Vincent O'Sullivan, died in Dunedin late yesterday (28 April)}} They separated in the 1970s.{{cite web |last1=O'Sullivan |first1=Dominic |title=Obituary: Tui Rererangi Walsh O'Sullivan, the 'flying bird in the sky' |url=https://asiapacificreport.nz/2023/06/02/obituary-tui-rererangi-walsh-osullivan-the-flying-bird-in-the-sky/ |website=Asia Pacific Report |access-date=2 May 2024 |date=2 June 2023 |archive-date=21 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921084016/https://asiapacificreport.nz/2023/06/02/obituary-tui-rererangi-walsh-osullivan-the-flying-bird-in-the-sky/ |url-status=live }} He subsequently lived in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, with his wife Helen.{{Cite magazine |last=White |first=Mike |title=Vincent O'Sullivan's first novel in 20 years a 'landmark book' for NZ literature |url= https://www.noted.co.nz/currently/currently-profiles/vincent-osullivan-all-this-by-chance-landmark-book-for-nz-literature |date=October 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200713031721/https://www.noted.co.nz/currently/currently-profiles/vincent-osullivan-all-this-by-chance-landmark-book-for-nz-literature |archive-date=13 July 2020 | via=Noted |magazine=North & South }}

O'Sullivan died in Dunedin on 28 April 2024, at the age of 86.{{cite news |title=Poet Sir Vincent O'Sullivan dead at 86 |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/515441/poet-sir-vincent-o-sullivan-dead-at-86 |access-date=29 April 2024 |work=Radio New Zealand |date=29 April 2024 |language=en-nz |archive-date=28 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240428212226/https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/515441/poet-sir-vincent-o-sullivan-dead-at-86 |url-status=live }} On his death, Fiona Kidman said that he was "right up there at the top" of great New Zealand writers, and someone who "helped to shape New Zealand literature" in its early years.

Career

O'Sullivan lectured at Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) from 1963 to 1966, and the University of Waikato between 1968 and 1978. He served as literary editor of the NZ Listener from 1979 to 1980, and then between 1981 and 1987 won a series of writer's residencies and research fellowships in universities in Australia and New Zealand: VUW, University of Tasmania, Deakin University (Geelong), Flinders University in Adelaide, University of Western Australia, and University of Queensland.{{Cite web |title=O'Sullivan, Vincent |url=https://www.read-nz.org/writers-files/writer/o-sullivan-vincent |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429050245/https://www.read-nz.org/writers-files/writer/o-sullivan-vincent |archive-date=29 April 2024 |website=Read NZ Te Pou Muramura}} These were interrupted in 1983 by a year as resident playwright at Downstage Theatre, Wellington. In 1988 he returned to VUW, where he was professor of English literature until his retirement in 2004.{{Cite web |title=Vincent O'Sullivan |url=https://www.poetryarchive.org/poet/vincent-osullivan |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223040103/https://poetryarchive.org/poet/vincent-osullivan/ |archive-date=23 December 2023 |access-date=26 June 2019 |website=Poetry Archive}} His notable students included Majella Cullinane.{{cite thesis |last=Cullinane |first=Majella |year=2020 |type=Doctoral thesis |title=The colours of that place: setting and memory in Irish short fiction |publisher=OUR Archive, University of Otago |hdl=10523/9888}}

O'Sullivan's literary works include plays, novels and collections of short stories and poetry. His works often addressed themes of death, loss and betrayal.{{cite news |title='I was in awe of him': Poet Sir Vincent O'Sullivan dies at age 86 |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/515441/i-was-in-awe-of-him-poet-sir-vincent-o-sullivan-dies-at-age-86 |access-date=30 April 2024 |work=Radio New Zealand |date=29 April 2024 |language=en-nz |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429015743/https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/515441/i-was-in-awe-of-him-poet-sir-vincent-o-sullivan-dies-at-age-86 |url-status=live }} His first poetry collection was published in 1965 and he established his reputation as a poet in the late 1960s and 1970s. He went on to complete twenty further volumes of poetry over the course of his career; his final collection, Still Is, is scheduled to be published posthumously in June 2024.{{cite news |last1=Mabey |first1=Claire |title=Vale Vincent O'Sullivan, 1937–2024 |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/29-04-2024/vale-vincent-osullivan-1937-2024 |access-date=30 April 2024 |work=The Spinoff |date=29 April 2024 |language=en |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429231014/https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/29-04-2024/vale-vincent-osullivan-1937-2024 |url-status=live }}

In the late 1970s O'Sullivan began writing short stories and plays, with his first full-length stage play performed at the Downstage Theatre in 1983 during his residency. Titled Shuriken, it dealt with the 1943 Featherston prisoner of war camp incident. He published seven collections of short stories and three novels; his first full-length novel, Let the River Stand, was published in 1993.

He was the editor of a number of notable anthologies, including An Anthology of Twentieth Century New Zealand Poetry (first published 1970, subsequent editions 1976 and 1987); scholar MacDonald P. Jackson describes it as having been "a standard text for a quarter of a century".{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Jackson |first1=MacDonald P. |editor1-last=Robinson |editor1-first=Roger |editor2-last=Wattie |editor2-first=Nelson |encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature |title=O'sullivan, Vincent |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001/acref-9780195583489-e-942 |access-date=30 April 2024 |date=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1917-3519-6 |oclc=865265749 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001 |archive-date=30 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240430023514/https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195583489.001.0001/acref-9780195583489-e-942 |url-status=live }} Through his academic career O'Sullivan became known as a scholar of Katherine Mansfield; he was the co-editor of the five-volume Collected Letters of Katherine Mansfield (1984–2008) with Margaret Scott, and editor of Poems of Katherine Mansfield (1988) and Selected Letters (1989). He was a founding trustee and in later years co-patron of the Randell Cottage Writers' Trust, which runs a writers' residency.

In 2007, in honour of his 70th birthday, a festschrift was published celebrating O'Sullivan's work over his career, titled Still Shines When You Think of It (edited by Bill Manhire and Peter Whiteford).

Honours and awards

In 1966, O'Sullivan won the NZSA Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book of Poetry, in 1979 he received the Katherine Mansfield Memorial Award for a short story,{{cite news |last1=Wells |first1=Amanda |title=Short stories go online |work=The Dominion |date=2 April 2001 |page=IT1}} and in 1994 he received the Katherine Mansfield Memorial Fellowship.

O'Sullivan has won the top prize for poetry at the New Zealand Book Awards on three occasions; for the collections Seeing You Asked in 1999, Nice Morning For It, Adam in 2005, and Us, Then in 2014. His first novel Let the River Stand received the top prize for fiction in 1993, and his second novel was runner-up for this prize in 1999. He also received the top prize for general non-fiction in 2021 for The Dark is Light Enough: Ralph Hotere a Biographical Portrait.{{Cite web|date=13 May 2021|title=Beautrais wins 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Award for fiction|url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2021/05/13/186237/beautrais-wins-2021-ockham-new-zealand-book-award-for-fiction/|access-date=13 May 2021|publisher=Books+Publishing|language=en-AU|archive-date=13 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513000705/https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2021/05/13/186237/beautrais-wins-2021-ockham-new-zealand-book-award-for-fiction/|url-status=live}}

File:Vincent O'Sullivan KNZM investiture.jpg by the governor-general, Dame Cindy Kiro, at Government House, Wellington, on 2 May 2022]]

In the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours, O'Sullivan was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to literature.{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2000-including-special-list-east-timor |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2000 (including special list for East Timor) |date=5 June 2000 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=4 July 2020 |archive-date=21 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521025048/https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2000-including-special-list-east-timor |url-status=live }} In 2009, following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government, he initially declined redesignation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit,{{cite news |url=https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/declined-13-knights-and-dames-announced-two-weeks |title=Declined by 13: Knights and dames announced in two weeks |date=18 July 2009 |work=Otago Daily Times |access-date=4 July 2020 |archive-date=28 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228212713/https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/declined-13-knights-and-dames-announced-two-weeks |url-status=live }} because, in his view, it did not fit New Zealand "historically and socially", and that "it didn't seem to make much sense in contemporary New Zealand society".{{cite news |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/sir-sam-and-sir-witi-unlikely-to-arise/SOYSIYQFJZEEECWGVGFMVDT42Y/ |title=Sir Sam and Sir Witi unlikely to arise |first=Nicola |last=Murphy |date=18 July 2009 |work=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=2 February 2022 |archive-date=2 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202081956/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/sir-sam-and-sir-witi-unlikely-to-arise/SOYSIYQFJZEEECWGVGFMVDT42Y/ |url-status=live }} However, he accepted the change in December 2021.{{cite news |url=https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2021-vr5541 |title=Redesignation in the New Zealand Order of Merit |date=21 December 2021 |work=New Zealand Gazette |access-date=23 December 2021 |archive-date=22 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222202207/https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2021-vr5541 |url-status=live }}

In 2006 O'Sullivan received the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement, worth $60,000, in recognition of his significant contribution to New Zealand poetry. Prime Minister Helen Clark said his poetry "goes to the heart of life's big themes – love, politics, philosophy, literature and history".{{Cite web |url=http://www.creativenz.govt.nz/results-of-our-work/award-winners/prime-minister-s-awards-for-literary-achievement |title=Prime Minister's Awards for literary achievement |publisher=Creative New Zealand |access-date=24 June 2019 |archive-date=26 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626112839/http://www.creativenz.govt.nz/results-of-our-work/award-winners/prime-minister-s-awards-for-literary-achievement |url-status=live }} O'Sullivan was awarded the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writer's Fellowship in 2004.{{Cite web |url=https://www.thebigidea.nz/grow/tips-tools/2004/jun/27090-vincent-osullivan-awarded-%C2%A0cnzs-michael-king-fellowship |title=Vincent O'Sullivan awarded CNZ's Michael King Fellowship |date=21 June 2004 |website=The Big Idea |access-date=24 June 2019 |archive-date=28 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128045157/https://thebigidea.nz/grow/tips-tools/2004/jun/27090-vincent-osullivan-awarded-%C2%A0cnzs-michael-king-fellowship |url-status=live }} In 2008 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Auckland. He was the New Zealand Poet Laureate for the term 2013 to 2015,{{Cite press release |url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1408/S00143/nz-celebrates-poetry-with-national-poetry-day-on-22-august.htm |title=NZ celebrates poetry with National Poetry Day on 22 August |date=11 August 2014 |agency=Scoop |access-date=24 June 2019 |archive-date=12 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112001558/http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1408/S00143/nz-celebrates-poetry-with-national-poetry-day-on-22-august.htm |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=phhhHT64kIMC&q=Vincent+O%27Sullivan+%28poet%29+selected&pg=PA426 |title=International Who's Who of Authors and Writers 2004 |date=2003 |publisher=Europa Publications |isbn=9781857431797 |page=426 |access-date=4 March 2021 |archive-date=8 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231008021054/https://books.google.com/books?id=phhhHT64kIMC&q=Vincent+O%27Sullivan+%28poet%29+selected&pg=PA426 |url-status=live }} and in 2016 he was the Honoured New Zealand Writer at the Auckland Writers Festival.{{Cite web |url=http://www.writersfestival.co.nz/look-and-listen/videos/Page8/2016-honoured-new-zealand-writer-vincent-osullivan/ |title=2016 Honoured New Zealand Writer: Vincent O'Sullivan |website=www.writersfestival.co.nz |access-date=24 June 2019 |archive-date=2 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202172018/https://www.writersfestival.co.nz/look-and-listen/videos/Page8/2016-honoured-new-zealand-writer-vincent-osullivan/ |url-status=live }} He was also a Fellow of the Academy of New Zealand Literature.{{cite web |url=https://www.anzliterature.com/fellows/ |title=Our 15 Fellows |publisher=Academy of New Zealand Literature |access-date=29 April 2024 |archive-date=30 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130041004/https://www.anzliterature.com/fellows/ |url-status=live }}

Works

=Poetry=

1965 Our Burning Time{{Cite book|title=Our Burning Time|last=O'Sullivan|first=Vincent|publisher=Prometheus Books|year=1965|location=Wellington}}
1969 Revenants{{Cite book|title=Revenants|last=O'Sullivan|first=Vincent|publisher=Prometheus Books|year=1969|location=Wellington}}
1973 Bearings{{Cite book|title=Bearings|last=O'Sullivan|first=Vincent|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1973|isbn=0196400104|location=Wellington}}
1976 From the Indian Funeral{{Cite book|title=From the Indian Funeral|last=O'Sullivan|first=Vincent|publisher=John McIndoe|year=1976|isbn=0908565216|location=Dunedin}}
1977 Butcher & Co.{{Cite book|title=Butcher & Co.|last=O'Sullivan|first=Vincent|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1977|isbn=0195580230|location=Wellington; Oxford; New York}}
1980 Brother Jonathan, Brother Kafka (with prints by John Drawbridge){{Cite book|title=Brother Jonathan, Brother Kafka|last=O'Sullivan|first=Vincent|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1980|isbn=0195580478|location=Wellington}}
1982 The Rose Ballroom and Other Poems{{Cite book|title=The rose ballroom and other poems|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent|date=1982|publisher=John McIndoe|isbn=0868680494|location=Dunedin |oclc=11051203}}
1982 The Butcher Papers{{Cite book|title=The butcher papers|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent|date=1982|publisher=Oxford University Press|others=O'Sullivan, Vincent.|isbn=0195580907|location=Auckland |oclc=12475774}}
1986 The Pilate Tapes{{Cite book|title=The Pilate Tapes|last=O'Sullivan|first=Vincent|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1986|isbn=0195581601|location=Auckland}}
1992 Selected Poems{{Cite book|title=Selected Poems|last=O'Sullivan|first=Vincent|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1992|isbn=019558242X|location=Auckland}}
1988 Seeing You Asked{{Cite book|title=Seeing you asked|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent|date=1998|publisher=Victoria University Press|isbn=0864733526|location=Wellington |oclc=40679012}}
2001 Lucky Table{{Cite book|title=Lucky table|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent|date=2001|publisher=Victoria University Press|isbn=0864734069|location=Wellington |oclc=48479582}}
2004 ''Nice Morning for It, Adam{{cite book |last1=O'Sullivan |first1=Vincent |title=Nice Morning for it, Adam |date=2004 |publisher=Victoria University Press |isbn=0864734735 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ODunzj_ZQsC |location=Wellington |access-date=29 April 2024 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429050229/https://books.google.com/books/about/Nice_Morning_for_It_Adam.html?id=2ODunzj_ZQsC |url-status=live }}
2004 "Homecoming – Te Hokinga Mai"{{cite book |last1=O'Sullivan |first1=Vincent |title=Homecoming – Te Hokinga Mai |date=2004 |publisher=Wai-te-ata Press |location=Wellington}}
2007 Blame Vermeer{{Cite book|title=Blame Vermeer|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent|date=2007|publisher=Victoria University Press|isbn=9780864735515|location=Wellington |oclc=156817044}}
2009 Further Convictions Pending: Poems 1998–2008{{Cite book|title=Further Convictions Pending: Poems 1988–2008|last=O'Sullivan|first=Vincent|publisher=Victoria University Press|year=2009|isbn=9780864736062|location=Wellington}}
2011 The Movie May Be Slightly Different{{Cite book|title=The movie may be slightly different|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent.|date=2011|publisher=Victoria University Press|isbn=9780864736437|location=Wellington |oclc=720632906}}
2013 Us, Then{{Cite book|title=Us, then|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent|isbn=9780864738929|location=Wellington|oclc=842385729|year = 2013}}
2015 Being Here: Selected Poems{{Cite book|title=Being here : selected poems|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent|isbn=9780864739315|location=Wellington|oclc=921828357|year = 2015}}
2016 And So It Is: New Poems{{Cite book|title=And so it is|last=O'Sullivan|first=Vincent|publisher=Victoria University Press|year=2016|isbn=9781776560592|location=Wellington}}

=Short stories=

1978 The Boy, The Bridge, The River{{Cite book|title=The boy, the bridge, the river|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent|date=1978|publisher=J. McIndoe|isbn=0589011898|location=Dunedin |oclc=5028977}}
1981 Dandy Edison for Lunch and Other Stories{{Cite book|title=Dandy Edison for Lunch and Other Stories|last=O'Sullivan|first=Vincent|publisher=John McIndoe|year=1981|isbn=0868680354|location=Dunedin}}
1985 Survivals{{Cite book|title=Survivals and other stories|last=O'Sullivan|first=Vincent|publisher=Port Nicholson Press|year=1985|isbn=0868615463|location=Wellington}}
1990 The Snow in Spain: Short Stories{{Cite book|title=The snow in Spain : short stories|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent.|date=1990|publisher=Allen & Unwin|isbn=0046140115|location=Wellington |oclc=22273782}}
1992 Palms and Minarets: Selected Stories{{Cite book|title=Palms and minarets : selected stories|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent.|date=1992|publisher=Victoria University Press|isbn=0864732309|location=Wellington |oclc=26935434}}
2014 The Families: Stories{{cite book|first=Vincent|last=O'Sullivan|title=The Families|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xuALCAAAQBAJ|date=1 October 2014|publisher=Victoria University Press|isbn=978-0-86473-995-7|access-date=25 June 2019|archive-date=8 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231008021052/https://books.google.com/books?id=xuALCAAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}
2022 Mary's Boy, Jean-Jacques and other stories

=Novels=

1976 Miracle: A Romance{{Cite book|title=Miracle: A Romance|last=O'Sullivan|first=Vincent|publisher=John McIndoe|year=1976|isbn=0908565143|location=Dunedin}}
1993 Let the River Stand{{Cite book|title=Let the river stand|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent|date=8 September 1993 |isbn=9780143573807|location=Auckland|oclc=947774990}}
2018 All This by Chance{{cite book|first=Vincent|last=O'Sullivan|title=All This by Chance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7JJcDwAAQBAJ|date=15 June 2018|publisher=Victoria University Press|isbn=978-1-77656-140-7|access-date=25 June 2019|archive-date=8 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231008021052/https://books.google.com/books?id=7JJcDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}

=Plays=

1983 Shuriken (Downstage, Wellington){{Cite book|title=Shuriken|last=O'Sullivan|first=Vincent|publisher=Victoria University Press|year=1985|isbn=9780864730107}}
1984 Ordinary Nights in Ward 10 (New Depot, Wellington){{cite web |title=New Depot Theatre (Wellington) :"Ordinary nights in Ward 10", by Vincent O'Sullivan |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22896948?search%5Bi%5D%5Bsubject%5D=Drama&search%5Bpath%5D=items&search%5Btext%5D=Sullivans |website=National Library of New Zealand |access-date=28 April 2024 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429050112/https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22896948?search%5Bi%5D%5Bsubject%5D=Drama&search%5Bpath%5D=items&search%5Btext%5D=Sullivans |url-status=live }}
1988 Jones and Jones (Downstage, Wellington){{Cite book|title=Jones & Jones|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent|date=1989|publisher=Victoria University Press|isbn=0864730942|location=Wellington |oclc=25074658}}
1989 Billy{{Cite book|title=Billy|last=O'Sullivan|first=Vincent|publisher=Victoria University Press|year=1990|isbn=9780864732057}} (Bats Theatre, Wellington)
1994 The Lives and Loves of Harry and George (Downstage, Wellington){{cite web |title=Writer's File: Vincent O'Sullivan |url=https://www.read-nz.org/writers-files/writer/o-sullivan-vincent |website=read-nz.org |publisher=Read NZ Te Pou Muramura |access-date=28 April 2024 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429050245/https://www.read-nz.org/writers-files/writer/o-sullivan-vincent |url-status=live }}
1996 Take the Moon, Mr Casement (Court Theatre, Christchurch)
2003 Yellow Brides{{cite web |title=Vincent O'Sullivan reading – Yellow Brides |url=https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0306/S00067/vincent-osullivan-reading-yellow-brides.htm |website=scoop.co.nz |publisher=Scoop Independent News |date=16 June 2023 |access-date=28 April 2024 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429050100/https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0306/S00067/vincent-osullivan-reading-yellow-brides.htm |url-status=live }}
2021 Simple Acts of Malice{{cite web |last1=McKinlay |first1=Tom |title=Lies and ill will |url=https://www.odt.co.nz/news/arts-festival-dunedin/lies-and-ill-will |website=Otago Daily Times |publisher=Otago Daily Times |date=5 April 2021 |access-date=28 April 2024 |archive-date=28 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221028222851/https://www.odt.co.nz/news/arts-festival-dunedin/lies-and-ill-will |url-status=live }}

=Non-fiction=

1974 Katherine Mansfield's New Zealand (revised 2013){{Cite book|title=Katherine Mansfield's New Zealand|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent.|date=2013|publisher=Steele Roberts Aotearoa|isbn=9781877577055|location=Wellington |oclc=827970754}}
1976 James K. Baxter (New Zealand Writers and Their Work series){{Cite book|title=James K. Baxter|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent.|date=1976|publisher=Oxford University Press|others=Baxter, James K.|isbn=0195580109|location=Wellington |oclc=3120442}}
2002 On Longing (Montana Essay Series){{Cite book|title=On longing|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent.|date=2002|publisher=Four Winds Press|others=Jones, Lloyd, 1955-|isbn=0958237514|location=Wellington |oclc=59360352}}
2003 Long Journey to the Border: A Life of John Mulgan{{Cite book|title=Long journey to the border : a life of John Mulgan|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent|isbn=9781927131329|edition= Second|location=Wellington, New Zealand|oclc=746765881|year = 2011}}
2020 Ralph Hotere: The Dark is Light Enough{{Cite book|last=O'Sullivan, Vincent|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1201258432|title=Ralph Hotere : the dark is light enough : a biographical portrait|date=20 October 2020|isbn=978-0-14-377515-7|location=Auckland, New Zealand|oclc=1201258432|access-date=29 January 2021|archive-date=29 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429045241/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1201258432|url-status=live}}

=Edited works=

1970 An Anthology of Twentieth-Century New Zealand Poetry{{Cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/anthologyoftwent0000unse |title=An anthology of twentieth century New Zealand poetry |date=1987|publisher=Oxford University Press |editor-last=O'Sullivan |editor-first=Vincent |isbn=0195581636|edition=3rd|location=Auckland |oclc=16626548|url-access=registration}} (revised 1976 and 1987)
1975 New Zealand Short Stories: Third Series{{Cite book|title=New Zealand Short Stories: Third series|last=O'Sullivan|first=Vincent|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1975|isbn=0195580001}}
1983 The Oxford Anthology of New Zealand Writing Since 1945, co-editor with MacDonald P. Jackson{{Cite book |title=The Oxford book of New Zealand writing since 1945 |date=1983 |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor1-last=Jackson |editor1-first=MacDonald P. |editor1-link=MacDonald P. Jackson |editor2-last=O'Sullivan |editor2-first=Vincent |isbn=0195580974 |location=Auckland |oclc=9832361}}
1982 The Aloe, with Prelude{{Cite book |title=The aloe : with, Prelude |last=Mansfield |first=Katherine |author-link=Katherine Mansfield |date=1982 |publisher=Port Nicholson Press |editor-last=O'Sullivan |editor-first=Vincent |isbn=090863501X|location=Wellington |oclc=9571129}}
1985 Collected Poems: Ursula Bethell{{Cite book |title=Collected poems |last=Bethell |first=Ursula |author-link=Ursula Bethell |date=1997|publisher=Victoria University Press |editor-last=O'Sullivan |editor-first=Vincent |isbn=0864733070|location=Wellington |oclc=38587538}}
1988 Poems of Katherine Mansfield{{Cite book |title=Poems of Katherine Mansfield |last=Mansfield |first=Katherine |editor-last=O'Sullivan |editor-first=Vincent |isbn=019558192X|location=Auckland |oclc=21412457|year = 1988}}
1989 The Selected Letters of Katherine Mansfield{{Cite book|title=Katherine Mansfield, Selected Letters|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1989|isbn=0198185928|editor-last=O'Sullivan |editor-first=Vincent }}
1992 The Oxford Book of New Zealand Short Stories{{Cite book|title=The Oxford book of New Zealand short stories|date=1992|publisher=Oxford University Press |editor-last=O'Sullivan |editor-first=Vincent |isbn=0195582527|location=Auckland |oclc=27762580}}
1993 Intersecting Lines: The Memoirs of Ian Milner{{Cite book|title=Intersecting lines : the memoirs of|last=Milner |first=Ian |date=1993|publisher=Victoria University Press|editor-last=O'Sullivan |editor-first=Vincent |isbn=0864732511|location=Wellington |oclc=34764456}}
1997 New Zealand Stories: Katherine Mansfield{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C_WcDwAAQBAJ&q=1997+New+Zealand+Stories%3A+Katherine+Mansfield+vincent+o%27sullivan|title=New Zealand Stories: Mansfield Selections|last=Mansfield|first=Katherine|date=4 October 2013|publisher=Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited|isbn=9781775535003|editor-last=O'Sullivan|editor-first=Vincent|access-date=4 March 2021|archive-date=8 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231008021053/https://books.google.com/books?id=C_WcDwAAQBAJ&q=1997+New+Zealand+Stories%3A+Katherine+Mansfield+vincent+o%27sullivan|url-status=live}}
1984, 1987, 1993, 1996, 2008 The Collected Letters of Katherine Mansfield (vols. 1–5), co-editor with Margaret Scott{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3iaQDwAAQBAJ&q=The+Collected+Letters+of+Katherine+Mansfield+Margaret+Scott&pg=PR15|title=The Collected Letters of Katherine Mansfield: Volume 5: 1922|editor1-last=O'Sullivan|editor1-first=Vincent|editor2-last=Scott|editor2-first=Margaret|editor2-link=Margaret Scott (New Zealand author)|date=5 June 2008|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=9780191541827|access-date=4 March 2021|archive-date=8 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231008021053/https://books.google.com/books?id=3iaQDwAAQBAJ&q=The+Collected+Letters+of+Katherine+Mansfield+Margaret+Scott&pg=PR15|url-status=live}}
2006, 2012 The Collected Fiction of Katherine Mansfield, 1916–1922 (vols. 1–2), co-editor with Gerri Kimber{{Cite book |editor1-first=Gerri |editor1-last=Kimber |editor2-last=O'Sullivan|editor2-first=Vincent |title=The Collected Fiction of Katherine Mansfield, 1916–1922 |volume= 2|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2012|isbn=9780748642755}}

= Librettos =

2002 Black Ice (with composer Ross Harris){{cite web |title=Black Ice: For Orchestra, Vocal soloists, and Chorus |url=https://sounz.org.nz/works/13628?locale=en |website=sounz.org.nz |publisher=Sounz: Centre for New Zealand Music |date=2002 |access-date=28 April 2024 |archive-date=19 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619061444/https://sounz.org.nz/works/13628?locale=en |url-status=live }}
2004 Lines from the Beach House (with composer David Farquhar){{cite web |title=Lines from the Beach House: for medium voice and piano |url=https://sounz.org.nz/works/16706?locale=en |publisher=Sounz: Centre for New Zealand Music |date=2004 |access-date=28 April 2024 |archive-date=2 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202112825/https://www.sounz.org.nz/works/16706?locale=en |url-status=live }}
2008 The Floating Bride, the Crimson Village (with composer Ross Harris){{cite web |title=Ross Harris: The Floating Bride, the Crimson Village |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/concert/programmes/resound/audio/20158646/ross-harris-the-floating-bride-the-crimson-village |publisher=Radio New Zealand |date=25 November 2024 |access-date=28 April 2024 |archive-date=28 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128185511/https://www.rnz.co.nz/concert/programmes/resound/audio/20158646/ross-harris-the-floating-bride-the-crimson-village |url-status=live }}
2010 The Abiding Tides (with composer Ross Harris){{cite web |title=The abiding tides / Ross Harris – music; Vincent O'Sullivan – words |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/38470633?search%5Bi%5D%5B-category%5D=Groups&search%5Bi%5D%5Bcreator%5D=Harris%2C+Ross%2C+1945-+composer.&search%5Bi%5D%5Bsubject%5D=Songs+%28High+voice%29+with+instrumental+ensemble+--+Scores&search%5Bpage%5D=1&search%5Bpath%5D=items |publisher=National Library of New Zealand |date=2010 |access-date=28 April 2024 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429045044/https://natlib.govt.nz/records/38470633?search%5Bi%5D%5B-category%5D=Groups&search%5Bi%5D%5Bcreator%5D=Harris%2C+Ross%2C+1945-+composer.&search%5Bi%5D%5Bsubject%5D=Songs+%28High+voice%29+with+instrumental+ensemble+--+Scores&search%5Bpage%5D=1&search%5Bpath%5D=items |url-status=live }}
2012 Songs for Beatrice: Making Light of Time (with composer Ross Harris){{cite web |title=Ross Harris: Songs for Beatrice |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/concert/programmes/musicalive/audio/201814942/ross-harris-songs-for-beatrice |publisher=Radio New Zealand |date=20 August 2012 |access-date=28 April 2024 |archive-date=8 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208222508/https://www.rnz.co.nz/concert/programmes/musicalive/audio/201814942/ross-harris-songs-for-beatrice |url-status=live }}
2014 Notes from the Front: Songs on Alexander Aitken (with composer Ross Harris)
2014 Requiem for the Fallen (with composer Ross Harris)
2014 If Blood Be the Price (with composer Ross Harris)
2016 Brass Poppies (with composer Ross Harris)
2018 Face (with composer Ross Harris){{cite web |title=Ross Harris: Face |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/concert/programmes/musicalive/audio/2018647009/ross-harris-face |publisher=Radio New Zealand |date=19 April 2018 |access-date=28 April 2024 |archive-date=29 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429045120/https://www.rnz.co.nz/concert/programmes/musicalive/audio/2018647009/ross-harris-face |url-status=live }}

= Festschrift =

2007 Still Shines When You Think of It: A Festschrift for Vincent O'Sullivan, edited by Bill Manhire and Peter Whiteford{{cite book |editor1-last=Manhire |editor1-first=Bill |editor1-link=Bill Manhire |editor2-last=Whiteford |editor2-first=Peter |date=2007 |title=Still Shines When You Think of It: A Festschrift for Vincent O'Sullivan |url= |location=Wellington |publisher=Victoria University Press }}

News coverage

"10 Questions: Vincent O'Sullivan", New Zealand String Quartet, 20 February 2014{{Cite web |url= https://nzsq.org.nz/index.php/news-and-reviews/item/10-questions-vincent-osullivan |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200216173924/https://nzsq.org.nz/index.php/news-and-reviews/item/10-questions-vincent-osullivan |archive-date=16 February 2020 |title=10 Questions: Vincent O'Sullivan |publisher=New Zealand String Quartet |access-date=25 June 2019}}
"Vincent O'Sullivan: NZ poet, author, biographer", Radio New Zealand, 28 February 2014{{Cite news |first=Kathryn |last=Ryan |author-link=Kathryn Ryan |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2587341/vincent-o%27sullivan-nz-poet-author-biographer |title=Vincent O'Sullivan – NZ Poet, author, biographer |date=28 February 2014 |work=Radio New Zealand |access-date=25 June 2019 |archive-date=25 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625001941/https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2587341/vincent-o%27sullivan-nz-poet-author-biographer |url-status=live }}
"Ross Harris and Vincent O'Sullivan", Radio New Zealand, 1 March 2016{{Cite news |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/concert/programmes/upbeat/audio/201791384/ross-harris-and-vincent-o%27sullivan |title=Ross Harris and Vincent O'Sullivan |date=1 March 2016 |work=Radio New Zealand |access-date=25 June 2019 |archive-date=25 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625023637/https://www.rnz.co.nz/concert/programmes/upbeat/audio/201791384/ross-harris-and-vincent-o%27sullivan |url-status=live }}
"Let us now contemplate what to do with Katherine Mansfield's bones: A proposal by Vincent O'Sullivan", The Spinoff, 28 March 2017{{Cite news|url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/28-03-2017/let-us-now-contemplate-what-to-do-with-katherine-mansfields-bones-a-proposal-by-vincent-osullivan/|title=Let us now contemplate what to do with Katherine Mansfield's bones: a proposal by Vincent O'Sullivan|date=28 March 2017|work=The Spinoff|access-date=24 June 2019|first=Vincent|last=O'Sullivan|archive-date=24 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624224904/https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/28-03-2017/let-us-now-contemplate-what-to-do-with-katherine-mansfields-bones-a-proposal-by-vincent-osullivan/|url-status=live}}
"Vincent O'Sullivan's first novel in 20 years a 'landmark book' for NZ literature", by Mike White, North & South, 5 November 2018{{Cite magazine |url= https://www.noted.co.nz/currently/profiles/vincent-o-sullivan-all-this-by-chance-landmark-book-for-nz-literature/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190624223304/https://www.noted.co.nz/currently/profiles/vincent-o-sullivan-all-this-by-chance-landmark-book-for-nz-literature/ |archive-date=24 June 2019 |title=Vincent O'Sullivan's first novel in 20 years a 'landmark book' for NZ literature |last=White |first=Mike |author-link=Mike White (journalist) |via=Noted |magazine=North & South |access-date=24 June 2019 |date=5 November 2018}}
"The deep discomfort of remembering, Ann Beaglehole', New Zealand Review of Books / Pukapuka Aotearoa, 6 June 2018{{Cite magazine |url=https://nzbooks.org.nz/2018/literature/the-deep-discomfort-of-remembering-ann-beaglehole/ |title=The deep discomfort of remembering, Ann Beaglehole |last=O'Sullivan |first=Vincent |date=6 June 2018 |magazine=New Zealand Review of Books Pukapuka Aotearoa |access-date=24 June 2019 |archive-date=25 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625001945/https://nzbooks.org.nz/2018/literature/the-deep-discomfort-of-remembering-ann-beaglehole/ |url-status=live }}
All This by Chance reviewed by Nicholas Reid on Stuff, 11 March 2018{{Cite news |first=Nicholas |last=Reid |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/102048801/book-review-all-this-by-chance-by-vincent-osullivan |title=Book review: All This by Chance by Vincent O'Sullivan |work=Stuff |access-date=24 June 2019 |date=11 March 2018 |archive-date=24 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624223451/https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/102048801/book-review-all-this-by-chance-by-vincent-osullivan |url-status=live }}
"Book of the Week: The best New Zealand novel of 2018": All This by Chance reviewed by Elizabeth Alley, The Spinoff, 22 March 2018{{Cite news|url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/22-03-2018/book-of-the-week-the-best-new-zealand-novel-of-2018/|title=Book of the Week: The best New Zealand novel of 2018|last=Alley|first=Elizabeth|date=22 March 2018|work=The Spinoff|access-date=24 June 2019|archive-date=24 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624223416/https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/22-03-2018/book-of-the-week-the-best-new-zealand-novel-of-2018/|url-status=live}}
All This by Chance reviewed by Marcus Hobson on NZ Booklovers{{Cite web |url=https://www.nzbooklovers.co.nz/post/all-this-by-chance-by-vincent-o-sullivan |title=All This by Chance by Vincent O'Sullivan |website=NZ Booklovers |date=7 March 2019 |access-date=24 June 2019 |archive-date=24 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624223354/https://www.nzbooklovers.co.nz/post/all-this-by-chance-by-vincent-o-sullivan |url-status=live }}
All This by Chance reviewed by Lesley McIntosh on The Reader, NZ Booksellers blog, 19 April 2018{{Cite web |url=https://booksellersnz.wordpress.com/2018/04/19/book-review-all-this-by-chance-by-vincent-osullivan/ |title=Book Review: All This by Chance, by Vincent O'Sullivan |last=McIntosh |first=Lesley |date=19 April 2018 |access-date=24 June 2019 |archive-date=24 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624223303/https://booksellersnz.wordpress.com/2018/04/19/book-review-all-this-by-chance-by-vincent-osullivan/ |url-status=live }}
"Acclaimed writers Vincent O'Sullivan and Diana Wichtel explore their very different approaches to representing the Holocaust', Radio New Zealand, 26 December 2018{{Cite news |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/writers/audio/2018676156/acclaimed-writers-vincent-o-sullivan-and-diana-wichtel-explore-their-very-different-approaches-to-representing-the-holocaust |title=Acclaimed writers Vincent O'Sullivan and Diana Wichtel explore their very different approaches to representing the Holocaust |date=18 December 2018 |work=Radio New Zealand |access-date=25 June 2019 |archive-date=25 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625030544/https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/writers/audio/2018676156/acclaimed-writers-vincent-o-sullivan-and-diana-wichtel-explore-their-very-different-approaches-to-representing-the-holocaust |url-status=live }}
"The Confession Box: Vincent O'Sullivan", The New Zealand Herald, 11 May 2019{{Cite news |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12226568 |title=The Confession Box: Vincent O'Sullivan |work=The New Zealand Herald |date=10 May 2019 |access-date=24 June 2019 |issn=1170-0777 |archive-date=23 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623133050/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12226568 |url-status=live }}

References

External links

[https://www.read-nz.org/writers-files/writer/o-sullivan-vincent Profile] at Read NZ Te Pou Muramura
[https://www.anzliterature.com/member/vincent-osullivan/ Academy of New Zealand Literature profile]
[http://vup.victoria.ac.nz/brands/Vincent-O%E2%80%99Sullivan.html Victoria University Press author page]
[https://www.penguin.co.nz/authors/vincent-osullivan Penguin Books NZ author page]
[https://steeleroberts.co.nz/product/katherine-mansfields-new-zealand/ Steele Roberts author page]
[https://www.bwb.co.nz/authors/vincent-osullivan Bridget Williams Books (BWB) author page]
[http://www.poetlaureate.org.nz/p/vincent-osullivan-new-zealand-poet_15.html The New Zealand Poet Laureate Blog]
[http://www.wellingtonwriterswalk.co.nz/the-sculptures/vincent-o-sullivan/ Wellington Writers Walk]