Kirstine Moffat

Short Biography

Kirstine Moffat was born in Scotland and although she came to settle in New Zealand at the age of seven and now strongly identifies with Aotearoa/New Zealand, she is proud of her Scottish roots and heritage. This influence can be seen in her chosen fields of interest for both her Masters degree (University of Waikato, 1996), the influence of Calvinism in Scottish fiction, and her doctorate (Victoria University of Wellington, 1999), the influence of Puritanism on New Zealand literature and culture. Kirstine's research interests have expanded to include, within the colonial and settlement period, issues of race, gender and class. Having studied the piano up to ATCL level, Kirstine regularly plays the instrument for comfort, inspiration and pleasure. She has married this form of personal expression with her burgeoning interest in cultural history. A Marsden Research Grant enabled her to travel throughout New Zealand to research her forthcoming book Piano: A New Zealand Cultural History 1827–1940. Kirstine's recent publications include ‘ “My Ears were Astonished by the Sound of the Piano”: The Soundscape of the Colonial New Zealand Parlour’, in Hearing Places (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2007) and articles on representations of colonial culture in fiction and film in Moving Worlds, New Literatures Review, The Journal of New Zealand Literature and Kotare: New Zealand Notes and Queries. She is currently on the editorial panel for The Journal of New Zealand Literature and has recently taken over the responsibility for compiling the annual bibliography of New Zealand literature for The Journal of Commonwealth Literature.