Introduction
William Harrison "Bill" Pearson (18 January 1922 – 27 September 2002) was a New Zealand fiction writer, essayist and critic. Born in Greymouth he completed a B.A. in English at the Canterbury University College and trained as a teacher. He taught briefly at Blackball Primary School in 1942 and drew on these experiences to write a novel entitled Coal Flat which was published in 1963.
After completing an M.A., Pearson travelled to London in 1949 to begin a PhD at the University of London. On completion of his PhD in 1952 he returned to New Zealand, teaching in the English Department at the Auckland University College from 1959 until his retirement in 1986. His collected essays and reviews on New Zealand literature and society were published in Fretful Sleepers and Other Essays in 1974.
Pearson had a close relationship with the Māori university community during his tenure at the University of Auckland.
Pearson was a closeted gay man for much of his life. Homosexuality was illegal in New Zealand until 1986.
A well-reviewed biography, entitled No Fretful Sleeper: A Life of Bill Pearson by academic Paul Millar, was published in 2010.