Louis Johnson
Poet, editor
1924—1988
From Brooklyn hill, ours is a doll-size city
A formal structure of handpicked squares and bricks
Apprehensible as a child’s construction
Signifying community.
From 'Last View of Wellington' in Fires and Patterns, The Jacaranda Press, 1975
Where to find it
On wooden bench overlooking Whairepo Lagoon, between bridge and the steps next to the albatross sculpture.
- Wheelchair accessible
About the author
A Wellington poet and a mentor for emerging writers, Louis Johnson published 17 volumes of poetry over a period of 45 years. He established the New Zealand Poetry Yearbook in 1951 and edited it until 1964.
Johnson’s writing is discursive, strongly moral, angry about injustice and critical of the self-satisfied. His later poems display a more distanced perspective, acceptance of human frailty and wry humour. He and his wife, Cecilia, set up Antipodes Press in 1987 and published Antipodes New Writing, featuring a mix of new and established writers.
With thanks to Wellington Waterfront Ltd
