Nick Ascroft was born in Oamaru. His father went to primary school with Janet Frame and his mother taught French to Fiona Farrell. It's a dynasty. Back with the Human Condition is his third poetry collection; his two previous are From the Author Of and Nonsense. He has twice been highly commended in the Kathleen Grattan Award, has edited Landfall, Glottis and Takahe and was all-too briefly the Burns Fellow at the University of Otago. He is also a nonfiction author, writing on music and football. Nick is an editor by trade, a linguist by training and a competitive Scrabble player by choice.