Helen Hogan
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29 September 1923
- Educator
- anthologist
- researcher
Helen Hogan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Helen Merrick Watson 29 September 1923 Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Died | 1 January 2025 (aged 101) Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Occupations |
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| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Canterbury |
| Thesis | Stories of travel: He kōrero ēnei mō te haerenga (1994) |
| Doctoral advisor | Margaret Orbell |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline |
|
Helen Merrick Hogan (née Watson; 29 September 1923 – 1 January 2025) was a New Zealand teacher, academic and researcher. She was known for her work in Māori and Moriori studies, oral history and literary anthologies.
Hogan was born Helen Merrick Watson in Christchurch on 29 September 1923. She was the daughter of William Davie Watson, a service-station proprietor, and Charlotte Amelia Watson (née Smith), a Karitane nurse.[1] She was educated at Christchurch Girls' High School where she was dux in 1942.[2][3] She want on to study at Canterbury University College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree with second-class honours in 1946, and a Master of Arts degree in English and history, also with second-class honours, in 1949.[4][5]
Watson learned music from a young age, passing examinations for ATCL (teaching diploma) in 1941.[6] She later gave private music lessons, teaching music theory and piano,[7] and played in the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.[8]
In 1956, Watson became engaged to Denis Hogan, an analytical chemist who became a professor at the University of Canterbury. They married the following year.[1][9] The couple had two children. Her son Seamus (1962–2015) was an economist and one of the developers of the WASP prediction tool used in limited-overs cricket matches.[10][8]
Teaching career
After earning a teaching diploma at the Auckland Teachers' College, Watson taught at Avonside Girls' High School in Christchurch for six years, with a year's break in Australia in 1953 when she gained further teaching experience and studied playing the oboe at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.[2][11]
After her marriage, Hogan taught at Darfield High School. After a year off to have her first child, she then became a foundation staff member at Hillmorton High School in 1961.[2][12] According to Hogan, she was "not too hot on housekeeping", so she used her salary to pay for a housekeeper. She worked at Hillmorton for 12 years, rising to become head of English as well as the teacher-librarian in charge of the school's new library in 1969.[2][13]
As an English teacher, Hogan observed that her students often wrote better poems after being exposed to other people's poetry. As a result, in 1971 she edited and published her first poetry anthology, Nowhere Far from the Sea, specifically for secondary-school students. The book contained poems by both well-known and lesser-known New Zealand poets as well as a poem by one of her students.[2][14]