Dr Jack Ross (born 6 November 1962) is a poet, novelist, translator, editor and lecturer in creative writing.[1] A trilogy of novels has been published by two different publishers, Alan Brunton's Bumper Books (Volume 1) and Titus Books (publisher).
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Born on Auckland's North Shore, Ross was raised and educated in the East Coast Bays. After completing degrees in English and Italian at the University of Auckland, Ross was given a Commonwealth Scholarship to study in the UK in 1986.[2] He was awarded a PhD in English and Comparative Literature by the University of Edinburgh in 1990 for a thesis on European Representations of South America. He is a Lecturer specialising in Academic and Creative Writing at Massey University's Albany campus.
From 2002 to 2005 Ross was managing editor of the literary magazine brief.[3] He has also edited other literary magazines, notably The Pander (co-editor 1998-99),[4] Spin (co-editor 1999-2003),[5] Landfall (guest editor: issue 214, 2007),[6] and Poetry NZ (guest editor: issue 38, 2008).[7]
Ross was described by Richard Reeve in Landfall as "a leading contributor to the field of experimental writing in New Zealand",[8] Roger Horrocks described him as being in the "exciting alt. lit tradition of local writing".[9] Mark Houlahan remarked in New Zealand Books [15 (2) (June, 2005): 14-15], that "Nobody else in New Zealand writes quite like Ross, though some of Bill Manhire’s fictions in The New Land are precedents." Other reviewers have been less welcoming. "Not all the contents are evil, but the spirit of darkness certainly prevails," was Laurence Jenkins' verdict on his first novel Nights with Giordano Bruno [in JAAM 16 (2001): 185 et seq.], while Joe Wylie remarked, a propos of Monkey Miss Her Now: "Outside of literati farm, this sort of thing has a very limited life expectancy ... Can Ross move beyond this? Does he choose not to?" [Takahe 54 (2005) 63].
Jack Ross has also edited and co-edited a number of publications.