Louis Johnson (1924—88) was a central figure in New Zealand poetry for over thirty years, despite spending the 1970s in Australia. In the 1950s he was the key figure in the innovative 'Wellington Group' and in the 1980s provided support for younger writers through his Antipodes Press. He founded and edited New Zealand Poetry Yearbook 1951— 54 He died during his tenure of the Katherine Mansfield Fellowship at Menton.