Fleur Adcock is a New Zealand poet and editor, of English and Northern Irish ancestry. Fleur Adcock was born on 10 February 1934 in New Zealand, spent part of her childhood in England, and since 1963 has lived in London. Her poetry has been widely published and celebrated in both countries. She was awarded The Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2006.

Emigrating to England from New Zealand in 1963, she wrote poems about the process of belonging and about the life of the place. Since then she has written, edited and translated many books, as well as libretti. Her matter-of-fact feminism, her humour and her ability to combine inwardness with very tangible impressions make her work unique.

Adcock’s first collection of poetry, The Eye of the Hurricane, appeared the following year. In that and subsequent volumes including Tigers (1967), High Tide in the Garden (1971), The Incident Book (1986),Time Zones (1991), and Looking Back (1997). Adcock brought a measured, Classical detachment to bear upon the vagaries of emotional experience. The Inner Harbour (1979) is generally cited as her most artistically successful work. Her later collections include Poems, 1960–2000 (2000) and Dragon Talk (2010).