About Sam

I am a writer, researcher, critic, and translator.

I grew up in Aoteaora New Zealand, and completed a PhD on the music and short fiction of Paul Bowles at the University of Sydney. I have lived and worked in London and Germany; I am currently a senior lecturer at York St John University, where I run the creative writing programme. My writing, teaching, and research are focused on the short story; my first writing success was a Katherine Mansfield award, and during my undergraduate degree I went on to win the Wai-te-Ata Press award, one of a number of prizes. But my other great love is jazz, and my writing—critical and creative—is dedicated to exploring the interplay between music and fiction.

There is a strong crossover between the artists who have influenced my craft and the areas of my research and translation. The key stars in my personal constellation are probably Ralph Ellison, Mary McCarthy, Diane Williams, Richard Yates, Tanizaki Junichiro, and (of course) Katherine Mansfield.

For the last few years I have been working on the most meaningful project of my career: editing and annotating more than fifty years of notebooks by my hero, jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins (housed in the New York Public Library). This book, for which I’ve also written a critical introduction, was published with NYRB in April 2024. I am at work on a new critical project, on Rollins’ peer, Yusef Lateef, and a linked collection of short stories, centred on a group of jazz musicians in early ‘60s New Zealand and Australia.

You can contact me at svhreese (at) gmail.com