Sarah Broom
Sarah Broom (1972–2013) was a New Zealand poet and scholar. Born and educated in the South Island, she studied in the United Kingdom at the University of Leeds (MA in English) and gained a DPhil from Oxford University. She was a lecturer at Somerville College, Oxford, before returning in 2000 to New Zealand, where she held a post-doctoral fellowship at Massey University (Albany) and lectured in English at Otago University. Her book Contemporary British and Irish Poetry: An Introduction was published in 2006; followed by two books of poetry, Tigers at Awhitu (Auckland University Press/Carcanet, 2010) and the posthumous collection Gleam (2013).
The Sarah Broom Poetry Prize was established in 2013 in memory of Sarah. Starting in 2014, it will be awarded annually to offer recognition and financial support to new and established New Zealand poets.
Publisher’s note: Sarah Broom wrote the poem ‘Gleam’ after undergoing radiation therapy in 2012; and it immediately became the title poem of the collection she was completing at the time. Broom died in Auckland in April 2013 as Gleam was being finalised for press.
