Sonja Yelich

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Sonja Yelich
Born1965 (age 56–57)
Auckland, New Zealand
OccupationPoet
LanguageEnglish
NationalityNew Zealander
Alma materUniversity of Auckland
GenrePoetry
Notable awardsJessie Mackay Best First Book of Poetry
Spouse
Vic O'Connor
​
(m. 2017)​
Children4, including Ella

Sonja Yelich (Croatian: Jelić; born 1965) is a New Zealand poet. She is the mother of singer and songwriter Lorde.

Early life[]

Sonja Yelich (Croatian: Sonja Jelić) was born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1965, into an immigrant family from the region of Dalmatia.[1] She studied literature at the University of Auckland and became a trained teacher.[1] Her father Djordje (Croatian: Đorđe Jelić) is a son of a pilot Branko Jelić and Kristina Jelić[2] who lost his life during the defence of Belgrade on 4th of April 1941 from air raids of German Reich. Branko Jelić was born in the Majdan village, at the slopes of the mountain Rudnik, Serbia. After his death, wife Radmila and her brothers run away from invading German Reich army to Dalmatia and soon after to the New Zealand, where Djordje was born.[2]

Career[]

Yelich's early poetry was included in AUP Poets 2 (2002). Her first collection of poems, Clung (Auckland University Press, 2004), won the 2005 Jessie Mackay Award for 'Best First Book of Poetry' at the New Zealand Book Awards.[3] Her poems were chosen for the Best New Zealand Poems series in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2008. She was also included in New New Zealand Poets in Performance (AUP, July 2008), a book that was released with an accompanying CD.[1]

Yelich's second collection of poetry, Get Some (AUP, 2008) was a finalist in the New Zealand Post Book Awards.[4] Get Some focuses on an American marine named "Edgar" who is serving in Iraq.[1]

In 2010 Yelich received a Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship (with Sarah Laing) that allowed her to write full-time in residence at the Sargeson Centre.[5] The Centre is adjacent to the University of Auckland and recipients receive an annual stipend of NZ$40,000.

Personal life[]

As of October 2013, Yelich lives in Auckland with her husband Vic O'Connor. They have four children: daughters Jerry (born 1994), Ella (born 1996, better known as Lorde), India "Indy" (born 1998), and son Angelo (born 2001).[6][7][8] In June 2014, the couple became engaged,[9] and they married on 6 May 2017.[10]

Poetry collections[]

  • AUP New Poets 2 (2002)
  • Clung (2004)
  • Get Some (2008)[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Yelich, Sonja". NZ Book Council. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Yelich, Lorde". Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  3. ^ "New Zealand Book Awards – Winners 2005". Booksellers. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  4. ^ "Get Some". Auckland University Press. Archived from the original on 4 February 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  5. ^ "About Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship". Buddle Findlay. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  6. ^ Greive, Duncan (October 2013). "Storm Singer". Metro: 56.
  7. ^ "Sonja Yelich (Person)". NZ Electronic Text Collection. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  8. ^ "Lorde: Storm Singer". Metro. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  9. ^ "Lorde's parents get engaged at Niagara Falls". The New Zealand Herald. 17 June 2014.
  10. ^ "Lorde's parents get married in Auckland". Stuff.co.nz. 7 May 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.

External links[]

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