Bill Manhire was born in Invercargill in 1946 and educated at the Universities of Otago and London. He now heads the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington and directs their prestigious creative writing programme. Graduates of the course include many of New Zealand's most accomplished contemporary writers (among them Barbara Anderson, James Brown, Kate Camp, Catherine Chidgey, Barbara Else, Kapka Kassabova, Elizabeth Knox, Emily Perkins and William Brandt).

In 1997 he was made New Zealand's inaugural Poet Laureate, in a scheme sponsored by Te Mata Estate, and the collection of poetry What To Call Your Child was published to celebrate his term as Poet Laureate. At the heart of the book is a sequence of poems which arose from Manhire's visit to Antarctica in 1998. He spent two weeks on the ice, and 45 semi-heroic minutes at the South Pole. His fascination with Antarctica has resulted in The Wide White Page: Writers Imagine Antarctica, an anthology of writing about Antarctica edited and introduced by Bill, published by Victoria University Press in November 2004. It was shortlisted for the 2005 Montana New Zealand Book Awards.

He has published many books of poetry (four times winning the New Zealand Book Award) and also a number of volumes of fiction. He has edited a number of best-selling anthologies of New Zealand poetry and short stories and a collection of his essays and interviews called Doubtful Sounds was published by VUP in 2000. His regular conversations with Kim Hill on National Radio had a wide following and did much to raise interest in poetry throughout the country.

His Collected Poems 1967-1999 was published by Victoria University Press in New Zealand in July 2001 and by Carcanet in the UK. He has also recently published a memoir in the Montana Estates Essay series called Under the Influence about growing up in the Otago and Southland pubs run by his family.

Bill Manhire was awarded the 2004 Meridian Energy Katherine Mansfield Fellowship, NZ's most prestigious literary fellowship and he spent six months working at the Villa Isola Bella, Menton, in the south of France.

In June 2005 Bill Manhire was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. In November 2005 Bill was named as one of the five Arts Foundation of New Zealand 2005 Laureates.

Praise for Bill Manhire Book of the week
Turning the pages of 'Lifted', no reader can fail to be surprised and delighted by the variety of voices and tones... Manhire shows not only his mature formal skills but his ability to look unflinchingly into the heart of things. He is a poet in which a sly sense of humour is coupled with a respect for whatever truths a poem can wring out of experience. ...Manhire’s poems make us feel as if we are really there. - Billy Collins, Dominion Post

Named one of The NZ HERALD'S 'Books of the Year'
Manhire is in darkly brilliant form in this death-haunted but scintillating collection. - Peter Simpson, New Zealand Herald

Named as one of The Listener's 'New Zealand's Best Books 2005'
Manhire risks accusations of sentimentality and produces a triumph. This is richly human work, which acknowledges its – and our – limitations and keeps reaching for the high windows, regardless. - Hugh Roberts, NZ Listener

The biggest noise in New Zealand poetry is Bill Manhire... Manhire has always known how to look at the human condition and state it simply through his poems. 'Lifted' is confident and emotive in what it tries to achieve. ...'Lifted' is shining stuff from truly one of our best poets. Definitely check this one out. - Hamesh Wyatt, Otago Daily Times

Manhire changes tack in every poem, coming at us with different techniques and different personae. It's a marvellously varied performance...Lifted is a short book, but few readers will be able to take it all in at a single sitting. It demands -and rewards- re-reading. - Iain Sharp, Sunday Star Times

An event to be celebrated . . . a powerful collection. - Tom Weston, The Press

He has matured sturdily, and grown to an impressive height, and put down roots so tenacious in their grip on the world that it’ll take the devil of a wind to topple him. - Michael Hulse, New Zealand Books

I love this latest collection of poems. . . They are hauntingly beautiful. - Alexandrina Ellis, Salient

The first thing that strikes the reader of the forty poems which make up Bill Manhire's Lifted is the absence of verbal clutter. read more

Echoes and quirks: Whimsy and elegies are strange bedfellows, says David Wheatley .The mysterious Lake Vostok has been in the news of late, as scientists attempt to bore below the Antarctic pack ice and make contact with its never-before-seen ecosystem. read more

Bill Manhire reads and discusses 'Erebus Voices' (2:29 mins) Bill Manhire reads 'University Open Day' by James Brown (2:00 mins) Podcast 1: Twenty Contemporary New Zealand Poets book launch (10:43 mins)