Blog Archives
Keith Westwater – Poem
To Avis Elaine The flowers you loved strew the shores of my first seven years Sometimes, in flower shops they shout out their names gerbera gladioli iris Sometimes they sing to me from a bouquet only half-made peonies pansies sweet…
Thoughts well-wrought, Damian Love
View from the South Owen Marshall (Grahame Sydney photographer) Vintage, $40.00, ISBN 9780143771845 It often seems to be the case that novelists, when they turn to verse, move with a more relaxed gait, a less self-conscious regard, than those whose…
Tagged with: Damian Love, Grahame Sydney, Issue 123, Owen Marshall, Spring 2018, Vintage
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Back on the rock, Janet Hughes
The Ski Flier Maria MacMillan Victoria University Press, $25.00, ISBN 9781776561131 Vanishing Points Michele Leggott Auckland University Press, $28.00, ISBN 9781869408749 Tightrope Selina Tusitala Marsh Auckland University Press, $28.00, ISBN 9781869408725 Poetry seems to have reclaimed what someone called “the…
An account of trauma, Michael Hulse
Allen Curnow: Collected Poems Elizabeth Caffin and Terry Sturm (eds) Auckland University Press, $60.00, ISBN 9781869408510 Allen Curnow’s poetry is a transcript of trauma. “Morning by morning incorruption / Puts on corruption”: this most fundamental of thoughts, borne in upon…
Tagged with: Allen Curnow, Auckland University Press, Autumn 2018, Elizabeth Caffin, Issue 121, Michael Hulse, Terry Sturm
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
A swarm of poets, Airini Beautrais
Manifesto Aotearoa: 101 Political Poems Philip Temple and Emma Neale (eds) Otago University Press, $35.00, ISBN 9780947522469 New Zealand poetry in English has a long and complex tradition of politically-charged work: from colonial balladeers, through 20th-century heavyweights like Allen…
Tagged with: Airini Beautrais, Emma Neale, Issue 120, Otago University Press, Philip Temple, Summer 2017
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
The wisdom of things, Anna Smaill
The Yield Sue Wootton Otago University Press, $25.00, ISBN 9780947522483 The Internet of Things Kate Camp Victoria University Press, $25.00, ISBN 9781776561063 There is beauty to be had in yielding, Sue Wootton’s collection suggests, both to the natural world and…
Tagged with: Anna Smaill, Issue 120, Kate Camp, Otago University Press, Sue Wootton, Summer 2017, Victoria University Press
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Jewels and binoculars, Murray Bramwell
Blood Ties: New and Selected Poems 1963–2016 Jeffrey Paparoa Holman Canterbury University Press, $25.00, ISBN 9781927145883 Dylan Junkie Jeffrey Paparoa Holman Mākaro Press, $25.00, ISBN 9780994137807 It is a harsh fact that we live in a world where there is…
Tagged with: Canterbury University Press, Issue 120, Jeffrey Paparoa Holman, Mākaro Press, Murray Bramwell, Summer 2017
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Sustained fullness of feeling, Damian Love
Tell Me My Name Bill Manhire Victoria University Press, $30.00, ISBN 9781776561070 Some Things to Place in a Coffin Bill Manhire Victoria University Press, $25.00, ISBN 9781776561056 It is often a revealing act. To translate, to imitate, to inhabit…
Tagged with: Bill Manhire, Damian Love, Issue 120, Summer 2017, Victoria University Press
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Young, gifted, female and brown, Elizabeth Crayford
Fale Aitu|Spirit House Tusiata Avia Victoria University Press, $25.00, ISBN 9781776560646 Tail of the Taniwha Courtney Sina Meredith Beatnik Publishing, $30.00, ISBN 9780992264895 Lucky Punch Simone Kaho Anahera Press, $25.00, ISBN 9780473367510 Before Tusiata Avia’s Fale Aitu|Spirit House was published,…
Tagged with: Anahera Press, Beatnik Publishing, Courtney Sina Meredith, Elizabeth Crayford, Issue 119, Simone Kaho, Spring 2017, Tusiata Avia, Victoria University Press
Posted in Literature, Plays, Poetry, Review
Posted in Literature, Plays, Poetry, Review
Infectious enjoyment, Fleur Adcock
Night Burns with a White Fire: The Essential Lauris Edmond Frances Edmond and Sue Fitchett (eds) Steele Roberts, $35.00, ISBN 9780947493448 This enjoyable anthology doesn’t pretend to be anything but an act of loving homage; as the editors admit, they…
Tagged with: Frances Edmond, Issue 119, Lauris Edmond, Night Burns, Spring 2017, Steele Roberts, Sue Fitchett
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review