He served in World War II between 1942 and 1946 firstly in the dental corps in Fiji, then in the infantry in Egypt, Italy and Japan.
The essay Fretful Sleepers, first published in Landfall in 1952, was written while living in England when he was contemplating returning to New Zealand.
[1] A well-reviewed biography, entitled No Fretful Sleeper: A Life of Bill Pearson by Paul Millar, was published in 2010.
[5][6][7] After the publication of Coal Flat Pearson wrote no more fiction but concentrated on essays, editing and literary criticism.
[4] Pearson was a closeted gay man for much of his life; he was trapped between a sexual identity that through much of his lifetime was the object of extreme prejudice and some criminal sanction, and his desire to fit in with his peers.