| Peter Simpson | |
| Constituency Mp3: | Lyttelton |
| Term Start3: | 15 August 1987 |
| Term End3: | 27 October 1990 |
| Predecessor3: | Ann Hercus |
| Successor3: | Gail McIntosh |
| Parliament3: | New Zealand |
| Birth Date: | 1942 |
| Birth Place: | Tākaka, New Zealand |
| Party: | Labour |
| Profession: | Lecturer |
| Children: | 2 |
Peter Alan Simpson (born 1942) is an academic, writer, literary critic, and former New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.[1]
Simpson was born in Tākaka in 1942. From 1955 to 1959, he was educated at Nelson College, where he was a prefect and member of the school's 1st XV rugby union team in his final year.[2] He gained a MA (Hons) from the University of Canterbury, and a PhD from the University of Toronto with a 1975 thesis titled 'Wordsworth to Hardy: lines of relationship and continuity in nineteenth century English poetry' .[3]
He represented the electorate of Lyttelton in Parliament from 1987 to 1990, when he was defeated by Gail McIntosh, one of a number of losses contributing to the fall of the Fourth Labour Government.
Before entering parliament he was chairman of the Lyttelton electorate committee of the Labour Party.[4]
Simpson had been teaching English since the 1960s at various universities. He was at Massey University, University of Toronto and Carleton University. In his last teaching role, he was at the University of Auckland as associate professor in the Department of English, and head of English, roles from which he retired in 2008.[5] [6]
He is the director of Holloway Press, set up at the University of Auckland in 1994 and named after Ron Holloway (1909–2003), a renowned university printer and publisher.[7] [8] [9]
Simpson received the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in 2017.[10]
In 2020, Simpson was conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Canterbury.[11]
Simpson lives in Auckland. He is married with two children.