Alistair Te Ariki Campbell
ALISTAIR TE ARIKI CAMPBELL was born in Rarotonga, half-Polynesian, and spent most of his working life in New Zealand as an editor of educational publications. Many collections of poems and a number of novels and plays to his name. Numerous awards and honours, including: The Pacific Islands Artist Award, 1999; Hon LittD (Victoria University), 1999; ONZM (Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit), 2005; The Prime Minister’s Award for Poetry, 2005. Also in 2005, publication by Hazard Press of a major collection, The Dark Lord of Savaiki: Collected Poems. His latest collection, Just Poetry, is in the pipeline. He lives in Pukerua Bay with his wife Meg, who is also a poet.
Campbell comments: ‘ “The Brigadier’s Secret Weapon” is based on an actual incident during the Italian campaign, involving the Maori Battalion. I’ve had a bit of fun with it, adding the nonsense of the secret weapon and making a joke of it. The bare facts you will find in my Maori Battalion sequence, “L1X Brigadier J T Burrow’s Vision”.’
