Barry Mitcalfe (31 March 1930 – 1986) was a New Zealand poet, editor, and peace activist.

Born in 1930 in Wellington, New Zealand, Mitcalfe studied at Victoria University of Wellington, where he received a Diploma in Education in 1962, and a Bachelor of Arts (with honours) in 1963.^[1] In the 1960s and early 1970s, he was a leader of the New Zealand movement against the Vietnam War, and co-edited several booklets on the issue.^[2] After the war ended, he became a leader of the New Zealand anti-nuclear movement.^[3] In 1981, he was a writer-in-residence at the South Australia College of Advanced Education, and in 1982 held an Ursula Bethell Residency in Creative Writing at the University of Canterbury.^[4] In 1977, he was awarded the Katherine Mansfield Fellowship in Menton.

Family

Mitcalfe was married to the botanist and conservationist Barbara Mitcalfe.^[5]

Published works

• Thirty Poems, Hurricane House, 1960.
• Poetry of the Maori, Paul's Book Arcade, 1961.
• Salvation Jones, Torbay, 1962.
• Nine New Zealanders, Whitcombe & Tombs, Christchurch, 1963.
• The Long Holiday, Whitcombe & Tombs, Christchurch, 1964.
• Polynesian Studies, Wellington Teachers' Training College, 1964.
• Writing: poems, Wellington Teachers College Arts Council, 1969.
• Maori Poetry: The Singing Word, Victoria University Press, 1974.
• Moana, Seven Seas, 1975.
• Migrant, Caveman Press, 1975.
• I Say, Wait for Me, (short stories), Outrigger, 1976.
• Maori, Coromandel, 1980;
• The Square Gang, Faber, 1981.
• The North Sun, Moon, and Stars, Coromandel, 1982.
• Beach, Coromandel, 1982.
• Northland, Coromandel, 1984.
• Look to the Land, Coromandel, 1986.