C. K. Stead was born in Auckland. For much of his career he was Professor of English at the University of Auckland, retiring in 1986 to write full-time. He received a CBE in 1985 and was admitted into the highest honour New Zealand can bestow, the Order of New Zealand in 2007.
New and upcoming books
Novels
Smith's Dream (1971)
All Visitors Ashore (1984)
The Death of the Body (1986)
Sister Hollywood (1989)
The End of the Century (1992)
The Singing Whakapapa (1994)
Villa Vittoria (1997)
Talking About O'Dwyer (2000)
The Secret History of Modernism (2001)
Mansfield (2004)
My Name Was Judas (2006)
Risk (2012)
The Necessary Angel (2017)
All Visitors Ashore (1984)
The Death of the Body (1986)
Sister Hollywood (1989)
The End of the Century (1992)
The Singing Whakapapa (1994)
Villa Vittoria (1997)
Talking About O'Dwyer (2000)
The Secret History of Modernism (2001)
Mansfield (2004)
My Name Was Judas (2006)
Risk (2012)
The Necessary Angel (2017)
Collections
Crossing the Bar (poems) (1973)
Quesada (poems) (1975)
Walking Westward (poems) (1979)
Five for the Symbol (1981)
Geographies (poems) (1982)
Poems of a Decade (poems) (1983)
Between (poems) (1989)
Voices (poems) (1990)
Straw Into Gold (poems) (1996)
The Blind Blonde with Candles in Her Hair (1998)
The Right Thing (poems) (2000)
Dog (poems) (2002)
The Red Tram (poems) (2004)
The Black River (poems) (2007)
Isola Bella (poems) (2008)
Collected Poems (poems) (2009)
The Yellow Buoy (poems) (2013)
The Name on the Door is Not Mine (2017)
That Derrida Whom I Derided Died (poems) (2018)
This Side of Silence (poems) (2023)
In the Half Light of a Dying Day (poems) (2024)
Quesada (poems) (1975)
Walking Westward (poems) (1979)
Five for the Symbol (1981)
Geographies (poems) (1982)
Poems of a Decade (poems) (1983)
Between (poems) (1989)
Voices (poems) (1990)
Straw Into Gold (poems) (1996)
The Blind Blonde with Candles in Her Hair (1998)
The Right Thing (poems) (2000)
Dog (poems) (2002)
The Red Tram (poems) (2004)
The Black River (poems) (2007)
Isola Bella (poems) (2008)
Collected Poems (poems) (2009)
The Yellow Buoy (poems) (2013)
The Name on the Door is Not Mine (2017)
That Derrida Whom I Derided Died (poems) (2018)
This Side of Silence (poems) (2023)
In the Half Light of a Dying Day (poems) (2024)
Novellas and Short Stories
Anthologies edited
Non fiction show