Tuesday

Poetry NZ Yearbook 2018


FRONT COVER:


Design by Jo Bailey, Thomas Le Bas and Fay McAlpine /
Typesetting by Kate Barraclough



Poetry NZ Yearbook 2018
Editor: Jack Ross

ISBN 978-0-9941473-3-2. 360 pp.

Auckland: Massey University Press, March 2018


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TITLE PAGE:




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CONTENTS:

    Editorial:
  1. Jack Ross / A Live Tradition / 14

    2. Featured Poet:
  2. Alistair Paterson, ONZM / 20
    1. A poem for Thomas Merton & Ernest Hemingway / 23
    2. How to write fiction / 24
    3. Journey to elsewhere / 26
    4. Raison d’être (for Dumont d’Urville) / 28
    5. Rick’s place — maybe ... / 30
    6. Nobody wants to talk about it / 32
    7. Stopping by a cornfield late in the afternoon / 33
    8. Te Kooti’s War / 34
    9. Therapy / 35
    10. The Talisman / 36
    11. The Tannery / 37
    12. The way things are / 38
    13. The valley of the kings / 40
    14. Navigator / 42
    15. Reading Alan Brunton / 43
    16. The Moon and Sixpence / 45
    17. Survival / 47
    18. The Forest of Tane / 48
    19. The Fiddler of Dooney / 49
    20. Eine kleine Nachtmusik (a serenade) / 50
    21. A traveller’s guide to Venice / 51
  3. Alistair Paterson with Jen Webb / Always becoming: A life in poetry / 52


    4. New Poems:
  4. John Allison / Baudelaire on L’Île Bourbon 1841 / 70
  5. Hamish Ansley / Popular Interpretations of Seven Common Dreams / 71
  6. Ruth Arnison / Trisomy 18 / 73
  7. Stu Bagby / On Reading August Kleinzahler’s Where Souls Go / 74
  8. Tony Beyer / Aftershock / 75
  9. Joy Blair / Sarajevo / 76
  10. Erick Brenstrum / 15 January 1945 / 78
  11. Iain Britton / from Vignettes: Luminous Particles: 9 — paradise seekers / 79
  12. Owen Bullock / a 1 not a 2 / 80
  13. Nicole Cassidy-Koia / I miss you Grandma / 81
  14. Jill Chan / Poetry / 82
  15. Alastair Clarke / Wairarapa, Distance / 83
  16. Jennifer Compton / a rose, and then another / 84
  17. Harold Coutts / there isn’t a manual on when you’re writing someone a love poem and they break up with you / 86
  18. Mary Cresswell / Transparency [a political paradelle] / 87
  19. Brett Cross / sanctuary / 88
  20. Semira Davis / Hiding / 89
  21. Tricia Dearborn / The opposite of forgetting / 90
  22. Doc Drumheller / Dream of a Sunday Afternoon / 91
  23. David Eggleton / Distant Ophir / 92
  24. Johanna Emeney / Favoured Exception / Suspicion / 93
  25. Jess Fiebig / Dead Man’s Point / 96
  26. Catherine Fitchett / Lead / 97
  27. Sue Fitchett / The smallness of significant things / 98
  28. Alexandra Fraser / The good daughter / 100
  29. Maryana Garcia / Umbrellas / 101
  30. Callum Gentleman / The Deep / 102
  31. Michael Hall / Towards Evening / 103
  32. Sophia Hardy / Above / 104
  33. Paula Harris / The poet is bearded and wearing his watch around the wrong way / 105
  34. Gail Ingram / Confucius says we should not be too familiar with the lower orders or with women / 106
  35. Susan Jacobs / Two Women Speak / 107
  36. Lincoln Jaques / They Write About Things Like This in Sweden / 108
  37. Tim Jones / Untitled / 110
  38. Sam Keenan / Gauge / 111
  39. Mary Kelly / 3.44 am / 112
  40. Raina Kingsley / Where are my Bones / 113
  41. Gary Langford / The Lake / 114
  42. Katrina Larsen / An Independent Woman / 115
  43. Wes Lee / My Tough Little James Cagney Stance / 116
  44. Henry Ludbrook / The Bar Girl / 117
  45. Olivia Macassey / Late February / 119
  46. Caoimhe McKeogh / this breaking apart of things / 120
  47. Robert McLean / Le Petit Testament d’Alfred Agostinelli / Goldfinch and Hawk / 121
  48. Natalie Modrich / Brown / 124
  49. Fardowsa Mohamed / Us / 126
  50. Margaret Moores / Dark Shapes Shimmering / 128
  51. Shereen Asha Murugayah / Phototropism / 129
  52. Heidi North-Bailey / Goodbye, goodbye, this time / 130
  53. Keith Nunes / Around town and out again / 131
  54. Jessamine O Connor / Sea Swimmer after Heart Surgery / 133
  55. Bob Orr / A Woman in Red Slacks / 134
  56. Jacqueline Crompton Ottaway / It’s not often we meet a man like you, Bruce ... / 135
  57. Lilián Pallares / Desidia / Apathy / 136
  58. I. K. Paterson-Harkness / It’s what you get for being a monkey / 137
  59. Mark Pirie / 11 Memories of David / 138
  60. Joanna Preston / Leaving / 141
  61. Lindsay Rabbitt / Flowers / 142
  62. Mary Rainsford / Oliver the Ovary / 143
  63. Essa Ranapiri / Gingko / 145
  64. Vaughan Rapatahana / he kōrero ki taku tipuna – a talk with my ancestor / 146
  65. Sahanika Ratnayake / Golden/Privilege / 148
  66. Ron Riddell / Prado Centro / 149
  67. Gillian Roach / What do you do? / 150
  68. Jeremy Roberts / Chatting with the Bums / Pure Gefühle / 153
  69. Lisa Samuels / Let me be clear / 156
  70. Emma Shi / billions and billions / 157
  71. Sarah Shirley / Family history / 159
  72. Jane Simpson / Unmarked crib / 160
  73. Ruby Solly / Our pearls are fake and nobody likes us / 161
  74. Laura Solomon / The Sword Swallower’s Lament / 162
  75. Bill Sutton / Billy plays rugby / 164
  76. Richard Taylor / the sad song of the toothless whore / 166
  77. Loren Thomas / Nailhead / 168
  78. Nicola Thorstensen / Spin Doctor / 169
  79. Vivienne Ullrich / Losing the Plot / 170
  80. Roland Vogt / On my watch / 171
  81. Richard von Sturmer / Apostrophia / 172
  82. Janet Wainscott / Occupation / 174
  83. Devon Webb / I Want to Live / 175
  84. Mercedes Webb-Pullman / Island / 177
  85. Robyn Yudana Wellwood / Midnight Phonecalls / 178
  86. Albert Wendt / ANZAC Day / Preferences / 180
  87. Sigred Yamit / University / 182
  88. Mark Young / Wittgenstein to Heidegger / 184

    89. Essays:
  89. Owen Bullock / All the world is a page: Alistair Paterson’s play for voices / 186
  90. Jeanita Cush-Hunter / Dying to matter: In defence of confessional poetry / 199
  91. Ted Jenner / i. m. T. E. Hulme, ‘the father of Imagism’ / 216
  92. Robert McLean / Arma virumque cano: A reply to Janet Charman / 222
  93. Reade Moore / The quiet of boiling oil: The life and poetry of Ellen Conroy / 236

    94. Reviews:
  94. Ella Borrie / Brian Turner - Jane Simpson / 244
    • Brian Turner. Night Fishing. ISBN 9781776560943. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2016. RRP $25. 96 pp.
    • Jane Simpson. A World Without Maps. ISBN 9781925231373. Carindale, Queensland, Australia: Interactive Press, 2015. RRP $27. viii + 62 pp.
  95. Mary Cresswell / Jeffrey Paparoa Holman - Manifesto Aotearoa - MaryJane Thomson / 249
    • Jeffrey Paparoa Holman. Blood Ties: New and Selected Poems, 1963-2016. ISBN 978-1-927145-88-3. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press, 2017. RRP $25. 168 pp.
    • Manifesto Aotearoa: 101 Political Poems. Ed. Philip Temple & Emma Neale. ISBN 978-0-947522-46-9. Dunedin: Otago University Press, 2017. RRP $35. 192 pp.
    • MaryJane Thomson. Songs of the City. ISBN 978-0-473-36566-0. Wellington: HeadworX, 2016. RRP $30. 86 pp.
  96. Hamish Dewe / Charles Olsen - Zero Distance / 262
    • Charles Olsen. Antípodas: Edición bilingüe. ISBN 978-84-945021-7-0. Madrid: Huerga & Fierro Editores, 2016. RRP £14.90. 94 pp.
    • Zero Distance: New Poetry from China. Ed. & trans. Liang Yujing. ISBN 978-0-9987438-2-0. Kāne’ohe, Hawai’i: Tinfish Press, 2017. RRP $US 25. 130 pp.
  97. Johanna Emeney / Lauris Edmond - Sue Wootton / 268
    • Night Burns with a White Fire: The Essential Lauris Edmond. Ed. Frances Edmond & Sue Fitchett. ISBN 978-0-947493-44-8. Wellington: Steele Roberts, 2017. RRP $34.99. 180 pp.
    • Sue Wootton. The Yield. ISBN 978-0-947522-48-3. Dunedin: Otago University Press, 2017. RRP $25. 84 pp.
  98. Matthew Harris / Owen Bullock / 276
    • Owen Bullock. River’s Edge. ISBN 978-0-9944565-2-6. Canberra: Recent Work Press, 2016. RRP $AUD 12.95 / $17.95 (international). 88 pp.
  99. Bronwyn Lloyd / Johanna Emeney - Elizabeth Morton / 278
    • Johanna Emeney. Family History. ISBN 978-0-9941378-1-4. Hoopla series. Wellington: Mākaro Press, 2017. RRP $25. 74 pp.
    • Elizabeth Morton. Wolf. ISBN 978-0-9941378-2-1. Hoopla series. Wellington: Mākaro Press, 2017. RRP $25. 90 pp.
  100. Robert McLean / Ian Wedde - David Howard / 286
    • Ian Wedde. Selected Poems. ISBN 978-1-86940-859-6. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2017. RRP $39.99. 340 pp.
    • David Howard. The Ones Who Keep Quiet. ISBN 978-0-947522-44-5. Dunedin: Otago University Press, 2017. RRP $25. 96 pp.
  101. Peri Miller / John Gibb - Liz Breslin / 292
    • John Gibb. Waking by a River of Light. ISBN 978-0-473-38992-5. Lyttelton: Cold Hub Press, 2017. RRP $29.95. 88 pp.
    • Liz Breslin. Alzheimer’s and a Spoon. ISBN 978-0-947522-98-8. Dunedin: Otago University Press, 2017. RRP $25. 76 pp.
  102. Elizabeth Morton / Alan Roddick - Michael O’Leary / 297
    • Alan Roddick. Getting It Right: Poems 1968-2015. ISBN 978-1-927322-65-9. Dunedin: Otago University Press, 2016. RRP $25. 90 pp.
    • Michael O’Leary. Collected Poems 1981-2016. Ed. Mark Pirie. Introduction by Iain Sharp. ISBN 978-0-473-38831-7. Wellington: HeadworX, 2017. RRP $35. 260 pp.
  103. Jeremy Roberts / Jeffrey Paparoa Holman - Mark Pirie / 302
    • Jeffrey Paparoa Holman. Dylan Junkie. ISBN 978-0-9941378-0-7. Hoopla series. Wellington: Mākaro Press, 2017. RRP $25. 54 pp.
    • Mark Pirie. Rock & Roll: Selected Poems in Five Sets. ISBN 978-0-9941861-2-6. Bareknuckle Poets Pocket Series. Brisbane, Australia: Bareknuckle Books, 2016. RRP $30. 156 pp.
  104. Jack Ross / Ted Jenner - Jeremy Roberts - Laura Solomon - A TransPacific Poetics / 308
    • Ted Jenner. The Arrow That Missed. ISBN 978-0-473-39818-7. Lyttelton: Cold Hub Press, 2017. RRP $19.95. 52 pp.
    • Jeremy Roberts. Cards on the Table. ISBN 978-1-925231-11-3. Carindale, Queensland, Australia: Interactive Press, 2015. RRP $29. 158 pp.
    • Laura Solomon. Frida Kahlo’s Cry and Other Poems. ISBN 978-988-8167-38-8. Hong Kong: Proverse Hong Kong, 2015. $38.59. 48 pp.
    • A TransPacific Poetics. Ed. Lisa Samuels and Sawako Nakayasu. ISBN 978-1933959320. Brooklyn, NY: Litmus Press, 2017. RRP $30.00. vi + 198 pp.
  105. Laura Solomon / Victor Billot - Lisa Samuels / 320
    • Victor Billot. Ambient Terror. ISBN 978-0-473-37064-0. Dunedin: Limestone Singularity Media, 2017. RRP $19.99. 82 pp.
    • Lisa Samuels. Symphony for Human Transport. ISBN 978-1-84861-547-2. Bristol: Shearsman Books Ltd., 2017. RRP $21.95. 76 pp.
  106. Richard Taylor / 5 6 7 8 - Brentley Frazer / 323
    • Monica Carroll, Jen Crawford, Owen Bullock & Shane Strange. 5 6 7 8. ISBN 9780994456533. Canberra, Australia: Recent Work Press, 2016. RRP $AU 17.95. 76 pp.
    • Brentley Frazer. Aboriginal to Nowhere: New Poems. ISBN 978-0-473-36567-7. Wellington: HeadworX, 2016. RRP $25. 88 pp.

    107. Books & Magazines in brief:
  107. Jack Ross / 332

    1. Mary Cresswell. Field Notes. ISBN 978-0-9941379-5-1. Submarine. Wellington: Mākaro Press, 2017. RRP $25. 68 pp.
    2. Claudio Pasi. Observations: Poems / Osservazione: Poesie. Trans. Tim Smith & Marco Sonzogni. ISBN 978-0-9941345-4-7. Seraph Press Translation Series No. 2. Wellington: Seraph Press, 2016. RRP $25. 40 pp.
    3. Shipwrecks/Shelters: Six Contemporary Greek Poets / Ναυάγια/Καταφύγια: Έξι Σύγχρονοι Έλληνες Ποιητές. With Lena Kallergi, Theodore Chiotis, Phoebe Giannisi, Patricia Kolaiti, Vassilis Amanatidis & Katerina Iliopoulou. Ed. & trans. Vana Manasiadis. ISBN 978-0-9941345-4-7. Seraph Press Translation Series No. 1. Wellington: Seraph Press, 2016. RRP $25. 40 pp.
    4. Signals: A Literary Journal 5. Ed. Ros Ali & Johanna Emeney. ISBN 978-0-473-37760-1. Devonport: Michael King Writers’ Centre, 2016. 110 pp.
    5. Karen Zelas. The Trials of Minnie Dean: A Verse Biography. ISBN 978-0-9941299-9-4. Submarine. Wellington: Mākaro Press, 2017. RRP $25. 196 pp.

    108. About the Contributors / 337

    About Poetry New Zealand / 355


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Alistair Paterson
[Photograph: Jan Kemp (2002)]


EDITORIAL:
A Live Tradition


To have gathered from the air a live tradition
or from a fine old eye the unconquered flame
This is not vanity.
– Ezra Pound, Canto LXXXI

Just as our previous issue focussed on younger poets, this one has as its overarching principle ‘the tradition’ – however you want to define that term. In pursuit of this aim, I’ve chosen to feature the poetry of Alistair Paterson.

Alistair was the managing editor of Poetry New Zealand for twenty years, from 1994 to 2014, and before that he edited Mate / Climate between 1974 and 1981. He is, however, principally a writer. Alistair had a poem in the very first issue of New Zealand Poetry Yearbook, in 1951, and since then he’s published nine books of poetry and three of prose, as well as editing numerous other books and journals.

He represents, then, a very important thing: perseverance in the writing life. Alongside this, though, his tireless work showcasing the talents of others shows a generosity of spirit which is also an essential part of the sense of poetic community I wish to celebrate here.

There’s another aspect of Alistair’s career which is perhaps less well known: a pronounced taste for experimentation and theory. As a result, Alistair’s poetry has never stood still. The free-flowing, associative poems he is writing today seem to me to represent a considerable technical advance on the more formal long poems of his middle years. Whether or not other readers agree with this diagnosis, the one constant factor in his writing is undoubtedly change.

For an author to be creating interesting new work after seventy-odd years of writing is not a phenomenon for which there are many parallels. Thomas Hardy published a book of poems in his 88th year; John Masefield in his 89th; Allen Curnow in his 90th. Alistair Paterson’s poetry now spans a similar period, but neither Hardy nor Masefield could be said to have kept up with new developments in poetics to the extent that Paterson has. Only Curnow provides a real precedent.

There’s a strong focus on mortality in many of the 21 new poems included here. How could there not be? What’s perhaps more noticeable is the delight and curiosity about nature, travel, time, the sea that most of them still display. Paterson’s energy seems inexhaustible. His wide acquaintanceship with so many of our poets, old and new, makes him in many ways the perfect embodiment of the ideal of a local tradition.


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The Pound quote I began with speaks specifically of a live tradition. That’s the real point, I think. Of course it can be interesting and valuable to celebrate the past, but it’s what the past has gifted to the present that really matters. Good poems don’t die, but grow in the memory, inspire us to speak out about our own times, our own problems, our own causes of celebration or despair.

The same can be true of essays and reviews, more strongly in evidence than ever in this issue. As well as a long interview, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to include Owen Bullock’s essay on Alistair Paterson’s long poem The Toledo Room (1978), and thus to provide maximum coverage of his work to date.

Alongside this, you’ll find a passionate defence of confessional poetry against its many, many detractors by poetry student Jeanita Cush-Hunter; an eloquent centenary tribute to T. E. Hulme, the (s0-called) ‘father of Imagism’ – and certainly founder of a certain notion of the Modernist poetic tradition – by poet and classicist Ted Jenner; and an amusing account of a family poetic tradition by Reade Moore.

More controversially, perhaps, Robert McLean has written a reply to Janet Charman’s essay ‘A Piece of Why,’ included in the previous issue of Poetry New Zealand, in which he takes issue with Charman’s avowedly psychoanalytic reading of Allen Curnow’s choices as an anthologist.

Celebration and inclusiveness are one thing, but it must be emphasised that the right to disagree is also part of a ‘live tradition.’ Both Charman and McLean argue passionately in support of their positions, but on the issues, never ad hominem. Both, it seems to me, deserve a hearing. Perhaps it’s my evangelical upbringing, but I must confess that I’ve never been able to feel that there was much to be feared from robust debate.

The review section here, too – larger than ever – is not short of strong opinions, cogently expressed. In her generous and thought-provoking review of our previous issue, Poetry New Zealand Yearbook 2017, poet and literary critic Paula Green announced as her own guiding principle, that: 'A good poetry review opens a book for the reader as opposed to snapping it shut through the critic’s prejudices.'

I would certainly agree with that – in principle, at any rate. A book should always be given the benefit of the doubt, if at all possible. Unfortunately one cannot always leave it at that. George Orwell, in his essay ‘Confessions of a Book Reviewer,’ puts the issue very neatly: 'If one says … that King Lear is a good play and The Four Just Men is a good thriller, what meaning is there in the word "good"?'

If we like and admire all books, then it’s much the same as liking and admiring none. Differentiation is the point of criticism, after all, and sometimes one bad review can teach us more than catalogues of praise.

To conclude with another quotation from Pound’s Pisan Cantos:
The wind is part of the process
The rain is part of the process [1]



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Of course there is another important point to make about book reviews. The masthead of the Poetry New Zealand website has always read ‘International Journal of Poetry and Poetics.’ There have certainly been questions in the past about just how many international publications can be mixed with the local product without obscuring the central raison d'être of the magazine.

This issue, for instance, includes reviews of 33 books. 23 of these come from New Zealand publishers. Of the remainder, five come from Australia, one from Hong Kong, one from Spain, one from the UK, one from New York, and one from Hawai’i. However, seven of these ten constitute single-author collections by New Zealand writers. The other three are anthologies. Of these the first, 5 6 7 8, is an Australian-published sampler of work by four poets, two of whom are transplanted New Zealanders; the second, A TransPacific Poetics, has a New Zealand-based co-editor, includes substantial local content, and was in fact launched here in July 2017; in fact only the third, Zero Distance: New Poetry from China, might seem an anomalous inclusion. When I explain that its editor, Yiang Lujing, is studying at Victoria University of Wellington, and has contributed translations to earlier editions of Poetry New Zealand Yearbook, the status of his work as a deliberate attempt to introduce contemporary Chinese writing to a Pacific audience may seem clearer. It is, of course, fortunate that we were able to find a reviewer, poet and critic Hamish Dewe, who is bilingual in Chinese and English.

It might be objected that few of these books are likely to be found on the shelves of local bookshops, but this is an uncomfortable reality for much poetry publishing in New Zealand now. In any case, in the age of online ordering, international books are often easier to obtain than those issued by some of our less tech-savvy local publishers!


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The second round of the Poetry NZ Poetry Prize has been as much of a delight to judge as was the first one. I’ve ended up making the following choices:
First prize ($500):Fardowsa Mohamed,
for ‘Us’ (page 126 in this issue)
Second prize ($300):Semira Davis,
for ‘Hiding’ (page 89)
Third prize ($200):Henry Ludbrook,
for ‘The Bar Girl’ (page 117)
Fardowsa Mohamed’s poem is, quite simply, magnificent. Its breadth of theme, its honesty and directness speak of a whole region of experience which I long to know more about.

It’s always a good sign when a poem scares the life out of you. Semira Davis’s poem is clipped and condensed, but there’s a sea of pain submerged under its surface. And yet, among other things, one would have to admit that it’s also very funny.

Henry Ludbrook’s ‘The Bar Girl’ is lush and romantic – or should that be pervy and voyeuristic? – all at the same time. It expresses perfectly a very real feeling, and that’s probably why I found it irresistible.


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There are 87 poets in this issue (besides Alistair Paterson, our featured poet). There are also 6 essayists and 13 reviewers – though many of these have also contributed poems: 98 authors in all.

If variety is the spice of life, then I think you’ll find it here. I’m particularly happy to be able to present new work by some of the great luminaries of our Antipodean Poetic tradition: Jennifer Compton, David Eggleton, Sue Fitchett, Ted Jenner, Bob Orr, Albert Wendt, Mark Young, and many, many others.

The preponderance of poems here comes from younger writers, though – some still in their teens – which is as it should be. More than 300 separate submissions were sent in for this issue, which made the selection particularly difficult. My long-list of possible inclusions was over 200 pages long, and had to be gradually winnowed down to what you see here.

So please don’t be discouraged if you sent in work and had it rejected. Perseverance, and receptiveness to change: those are the two principles embodied in Alistair Paterson’s long literary career – keeping at it, despite all disappointments and discouragements; above all, always being ready to try something new.


— Jack Ross
September 2017


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Notes:

1. Ezra Pound, ‘Canto LXXIV’, in The Cantos of Ezra Pound (New York: New Directions, [1970] 1996), 455.




Alistair Paterson & Jack Ross
[Channel 81 (Oct 2017): 10]




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ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS:

  • John Allison returned to New Zealand a year ago after 15 years in Melbourne. His poems have been published in numerous journals worldwide. He was the featured poet in Poetry New Zealand 14, and his poem ‘Dead Reckoning’ appeared in Poetry New Zealand 50 in November 2015. John is the author of four books of poetry. His book on perception, imagination and poetry, A Way of Seeing, was published in 2003 by Lindisfarne Press in the United States.
  • Hamish Ansley is a writer primarily of fiction and sometimes poetry. His work is inspired by reality but heavily fictionalised. He recently completed a Master’s thesis at the University of Waikato about masculinity in contemporary fiction.
  • Ruth Arnison is the afternoon administrator at Knox College, a residential college affiliated to the University of Otago. She is the editor of Poems in the Waiting Room (NZ), the founder of Lilliput Libraries, and when the weather is fine enjoys painting Poems on Steps around Dunedin with her ‘step sister’ Sheryl McCammon.
  • Stu Bagby was born and raised in Northland. He now lives on 5 acres of land near Paremoremo. An anthologist and poet, his latest book of poetry, Pockets of Warmth, was published in 2017.
  • Tony Beyer’s recent publications include Nine Songs (Puriri Press, Auckland, 2017).
  • Joy Blair started life in Central Otago, and eventually moved to Auckland’s North Shore, where she writes variously, mainly poetry. She has appeared previously in Poetry New Zealand.
  • Ella Borrie is a poet and mug collector living in Wellington, although her heart is in the Southern Alps. She has an English and a Law degree from the University of Otago, was the co-editor of Antics 2015, and her work appears in Mimicry and Starling.
  • Erick Brenstrum is the author of Thalassa, a book of poems, and The New Zealand Weather Book. He writes a column on weather and climate in New Zealand Geographic magazine.
  • Iain Britton has had six collections of poems published since 2008, mainly in the United Kingdom: Hauled Head First into a Leviathan (Cinnamon Press), Liquefaction (Interactive Press, 2009), Cravings (Oystercatcher Press, 2009), druidic approaches (Lapwing Publications, 2011), Punctured Experimental (Kilmog Press, 2010) and photosynthesis (Kilmog Press, 2014). Recently, a new collection, The Intaglio Poems, was published by Hesterglock Press (Bristol, 2017).
  • Owen Bullock’s publications include semi (Puncher & Wattmann, 2017), River’s Edge (Recent Work Press, 2016) and sometimes the sky isn’t big enough (Steele Roberts, 2010). He has edited a number of journals and anthologies, including Poetry New Zealand. He has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Canberra, where he teaches. In his research on semiotics and poetry he discusses the work of Alistair Paterson, Alan Loney and Michele Leggott.
  • Nicole Cassidy-Koia is a 19-year-old student with a strong passion for literacy and creative writing. She was born and raised in Auckland, and is expected to graduate from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Primary Education in 2019.
  • Jill Chan’s sixth collection of poetry is What To Believe (2017). Her work has been published in Poetry New Zealand, takahē, Brief, JAAM, Deep South, Trout, Otoliths, and many other magazines.
  • Alastair Clarke is an English teacher, and has recently returned to New Zealand after living for a number of years in Britain and Australia. Seeing his country once more has dictated his most recent writing.
  • Jennifer Compton was born in Wellington and now lives in Melbourne. Her verse novella Mr Clean & The Junkie came out in 2015 from Mākaro Press.
  • Harold Coutts has recently finished a BA in English Literature and Classical Studies at Victoria University and continues to live in Wellington. He self-published a collection of poetry in late 2016 called Fissure In Flowers, and is working on the first draft of a novel.
  • Mary Cresswell is from Los Angeles and lives on the Kāpiti Coast. Her latest book, Field Notes, contains poems written purely for enjoyment. It was published by Mākaro Press in mid-2017.
  • Brett Cross is based on the edge of the Hauraki Plains in North Waikato, where he runs the two small presses of Titus Books and Atuanui Press.
  • Jeanita Cush-Hunter is an aspiring writer and poet who lives in Auckland. She has a Diploma of Education (Secondary Drama and English) from the Queensland University of Technology, and a Bachelor of Education from Massey University. She is currently immersed in her Master’s of Creative Writing at Massey University.
  • Semira Davis lives north of Wellington. Her writing has appeared in Landfall, takahē, Blackmail Press and the Phantom Billsticker’s Café Reader.
  • Tricia Dearborn’s poetry has been widely published in Australian literary journals, including Meanjin, Southerly, Island Magazine and Westerly, as well as in the United Kingdom, the United States and Ireland. Her latest collection is The Ringing World (Puncher & Wattmann, 2012).
  • Hamish Dewe edited brief 43 in 2011. He was, back in the day, an editor of Salt (the Auckland one).
  • Doc Drumheller was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and has lived in New Zealand for more than half his life. He has worked in award-winning groups for theatre and music, and has published 10 collections of poetry. His poems have been translated into more than 20 languages, and he has performed in Cuba, Lithuania, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Japan, India, the United States and Nicaragua, and widely throughout New Zealand. He lives in Oxford, Canterbury, where he edits and publishes the literary journal Catalyst.
  • David Eggleton received the 2015 Janet Frame Literary Trust Poetry Award, and his collection The Conch Trumpet won the 2016 Ockham New Zealand Book Award for Poetry. His most recent poetry publication, SNAP, is a limited-edition 14-poem collaboration with artist Nigel Brown and printer John Holmes for the University of Otago’s Otakou Press.
  • Johanna Emeney is an Auckland teacher and poet who co-facilitates the Michael King Young Writers Programme and teaches Creative Writing at Massey University. Her second collection of poetry, Family History, was published by Mākaro Press in April 2017.
  • Jess Fiebig is a born and bred Cantabrian. She is a bibliophile who spends her spare time writing, walking her border terrier and drinking cups of tea.
  • Catherine Fitchett is a Christchurch poet who has had work published in various magazines and anthologies, most recently in Leaving the Red Zone: Poems from the Canterbury Earthquakes (Clerestory Press, 2016). She has had various careers, including a number of years as a forensic scientist, and is currently working on a collection of poems based on elements of the periodic table.
  • Sue Fitchett is a conservationist and Waiheke Islander. She is the author of Palaver Lava Queen (AUP, 2004) and On the Wing (Steele Roberts, 2014), and the co-author or editor of several poetry books. Her work has appeared in various publications in New Zealand and overseas, and has been performed in art shows.
  • Alexandra Fraser is an Auckland poet. Her first collection was Conversation by Owl-light (Steele Roberts, 2014). In 2016, she completed a Master’s of Creative Writing at AUT. She has been published in various New Zealand and overseas magazines (including Poetry New Zealand), and in 2016 was placed second and also highly commended in the Poetry Society of New Zealand competition.
  • Maryana Garcia is fascinated by quotidian miracles and all things microcosmic. She has previously been published in Mayhem, and regularly contributes her word experiments to the cloud under the Twitter handle @bosonbrain.
  • Callum Gentleman has toured New Zealand extensively as a poet and musician, and recently completed two Australian tours. He is also the wordsmith for Panhandlers, a soundscape/poetry duo with Joel Vinsen. He lives in Auckland, but dreams of escape.
  • Michael Hall currently lives in Dunedin. He has had poems published in New Zealand and overseas. Two of his most recent poems have been published in The Spinoff.
  • Sophia Hardy published her first full book of poetry, Jupiter’s Perigee, in 2017 (Lasavia Publishing), after numerous contributions to poetry journals and books. Although occasionally narrated in the first person, Hardy’s poems are often character studies, and frequently include historical personages.
  • Matthew Harris has a PhD in English from Massey University, and works as a Senior Tutor in the School of English and Media Studies. He is a writer of poems, fictions and short films: 43000 Feet (2012), Snooze Time (2014) and Madam Black (2015), have travelled the international film festival circuit from Rhode Island and Tribeca in the United States to the Clermont-Ferrand festival in France, accruing various awards.
  • Paula Harris lives in Palmerston North, where she writes poems, teaches Pilates and contemplates the pleasures of eating dark chocolate. She won the 1995 Whitireia Poetry Award, which was kinda awesome. Her work has been published in various New Zealand and Australian journals, including Poetry New Zealand Yearbook, Snorkel, Landfall and Broadsheet.
  • Gail Ingram’s short stories and poetry have appeared in journals and anthologies in New Zealand and overseas. Recent awards include runner-up in the 2017 New Zealand National Flash Fiction Day International Micro Competition, winner of the 2016 New Zealand Poetry Society International Poetry competition, selected finalist for 2016 Best Small Fictions, and runner-up in 2015 takahē International Poetry Competition. She holds a first-class Master’s of Creative Writing from Massey University.
  • Susan Jacobs lives in Auckland and is a sporadic poet. The mother of four adult daughters, she has a special affinity for Italy, where she lived for 10 years. She is the author of two non-fiction books (Penguin, 2003, 2012) about the Italian–New Zealand connection in World War II. Susan has worked as a lecturer, tutor, teacher, editor and book reviewer, and is currently teaching English to adults in a high school.
  • Lincoln Jaques writes: ‘I was born in the UK in 1969 but raised in Beachhaven, Auckland. I gained a MA (Hons) in English at the University of Auckland, and have recently completed a Master’s of Creative Writing at AUT. I have previously published poems in Poetry New Zealand, Spin, Fresh, JAAM and Southern Ocean Review. I was a category winner of the 2015 Auckland Museum ANZAC Centenary Poetry Competition. I have also published online travel articles through the website Way Beyond Borders.’
  • Ted Jenner is an Auckland writer who has published three books of poetry, and one book of poems, short fiction and travel anecdotes (Writers in Residence and Other Captive Fauna), and two books of translations from ancient Greek poetry. His most recent book of poems, The arrow that missed, was published in June 2017 by Cold Hub Press.
  • Tim Jones was awarded the New Zealand Society of Authors Janet Frame Memorial Award for Literature in 2010. His books include his second short story collection, Transported (Vintage, 2008), a poetry anthology, The Stars Like Sand: Australian Speculative Poetry, co-edited with P. S. Collier (Interactive Press, 2014), and his fourth poetry collection, New Sea Land (Mākaro Press, 2016). He was the guest poet in takahē 89 (April 2017).
  • Sam Keenan lives in Wellington. She was the winner of the 2014 Story Inc. Prize for Poetry, and she has a Master’s of Arts with distinction from the International Institute of Modern Letters. Her work has been previously published in Landfall and Cordite.
  • Mary Kelly writes: ‘I am a 17-year-old writer living in Wellington. I have been writing for over two years, but only recently have started becoming public with my work. I find myself writing about experiences from life which I struggled talking about with people, which is why I found myself writing it instead.’
  • Raina Kingsley writes: ‘Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Mamoe, Ngāti Kahugnunu. Born 5 June 1962. Brought up in Hawke’s Bay. Living in Christchurch since 1988. I have had poems published in Leaving the Red Zone and Quakes and Community.’
  • Gary Langford is the author of 38 books, including 15 in fiction, 4 textbooks and 15 in poetry such as The Sonnets of Gary Langford (XLIBRIS, 2016). His last dozen books use his paintings as illustrations, including the cover of Memoir of a Teacher Writer, published 2017, and his latest story collection, The Writer Who Becomes a Best Seller, 2017. Gary is an artist writer in Melbourne, Australia, and Christchurch, New Zealand.
  • Katrina Larsen is a teacher from Tauranga who has previously been published in Blackmail Press. She enjoys words and travelling to other worlds.
  • Wes Lee lives in Paekakariki. Her latest collection Body, Remember was launched in June 2017 by Eyewear Publishing in London as part of the Lorgnette Series of pamphlets. She was the 2010 recipient of the BNZ Katherine Mansfield Literary Award, and has won a number of awards for her writing.
  • Bronwyn Lloyd is a writer and senior tutor at the School of English and Media Studies at Massey University (Albany). She has published numerous catalogue essays and articles on New Zealand painting and applied art since 1999, and her first collection of short stories, The Second Location, was published by Titus books in 2011.
  • Henry Ludbrook is a Nelson-based poet. This is the second time he has been published in Poetry New Zealand. He is active in the Nelson Live Poets group. He also has a poetry blog called River Deliver Me at hello-hcludbrook.tumblr.com.
  • Olivia Macassey’s poems have appeared in takahē, Poetry New Zealand, Landfall and other places. Her second book, The Burnt Hotel, was published in 2015 by Titus Books. She currently edits brief, and lives in Northland. Her website is www.macassey.com.
  • Caoimhe McKeogh lives in Wellington, and works in community disability support. She is currently working on a novel with the assistance of a New Zealand Society of Authors Mentorship. She has been previously published in the Poetry New Zealand Yearbook 2017, and Landfall, Headland and brief literary journals.
  • Robert McLean is a poet, short-story writer, critic and reviewer. He is editing a selection of Dan Davin’s poetry, which will be published by Cold Hub Press in early 2018. Born in Christchurch, he lives in Featherston and he works in Wellington for the New Zealand government.
  • Peri Miller is currently finishing up a Bachelor of Communications through Massey University, and looking to study towards a Master’s as of 2018. She has previously written a book review column for Massey University’s student magazine, and plans to one day have credentials stronger than ‘student’.
  • Natalie Modrich is a 20-year-old student, born and raised in Auckland, who is currently studying for a Bachelor of Arts in English at Massey University in Albany. At the moment, she writes poetry mainly as a hobby, but aspires to see more of her work in print in the future.
  • Fardowsa Mohamed is a student at the University of Otago, currently in her fifth year of studying medicine. She has been writing poetry since she was a child. Her poetry has been published once before, in Landfall 233.
  • Reade Moore is passionate about poetry, genealogy and stories that delve into these subjects. Her story ‘Watercolours’ earned third place in the 2017 Page & Blackmore short story competition, judged by Kevin Ireland.
  • Margaret Moores was a bookseller for many years, but now works as a publisher’s sales representative. She lives in Auckland, and has recently completed a Master’s of Creative Writing at Massey University. Her poems and short fiction have been published in journals and anthologies in New Zealand and Australia.
  • Elizabeth Morton is published in New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Australia and Ireland. Her first poetry collection, Wolf, was published by Mākaro Press in 2017. She was feature poet in the 2017 Poetry New Zealand Yearbook. www.ekmorton.com.
  • Shereen Asha Murugayah was born and bred in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but now lives in Dunedin, pursuing a PhD in science. Her work has appeared in The Poetry Kit, Shot Glass Journal and Rambutan Literary.
  • Heidi North-Bailey is a writer from Auckland. Her poetry and short stories have been published in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. Heidi’s first poetry book, Possibility of Flight, was published by Wellington publisher Mākaro Press, in 2015. She joined the Shanghai International Writers Programme along with 10 other writers worldwide as the New Zealand fellow in September–October 2016. She was awarded the Hachette/NZSA mentorship for 2017 to work on her first novel.
  • Keith Nunes lives beside Lake Rotoma, where the two of them undertake a great deal of reflecting. He has had works published around the globe, has placed in competitions and is a Pushcart Prize nominee. His book of poetry and short fiction, catching a ride on a paradox, is sold by the lunatic fringe.
  • Jessamine O Connor lives in the west of Ireland where she facilitates ‘Epic Award’ winners, The Hermit Collective, the Wrong Side of the Tracks Writers, and also coordinates conversational English classes in a local town. Her four self-published chapbooks are available from www.jessamineoconnor.com.
  • Charles Olsen is a New Zealand artist and poet, who has been based in Madrid, Spain, since 2003. He has translated both Spanish and New Zealand poets. His website is www.charlesolsen.es.
  • Bob Orr has lived most of his adult life in Auckland, but now makes his home on the Thames Coast. He was the recipient of the 2017 Writer in Residence award at Waikato University. His most recent book is Odysseus in Woolloomooloo, published by Steele Roberts in 2014. He is currently working on poems inspired by a Waikato childhood.
  • Jacqueline Crompton Ottaway is an Auckland poet who has published extensively in local journals and anthologies. Her books include Travels in the Antipodes: A Collection of Poems (Piper’s Ash, 1999), Phosphorescence On the Oars (BF Publishing, 2006) and The Lion Roars: Piha Poems, with paintings by Barbara Pflaum (Glen Esk Publishing, 2009).
  • Lilián Pallares is from Barranquilla, Colombia. In 2017 she received the XIV distinction Poetas de Otros Mundos (Poets from Other Worlds) for the high quality of her poetic oeuvre from the Fondo Poético Internacional (International Poetry Fund), Spain. She has published a collection of short stories, Ciudad Sonámbula, which has been translated as the ebook Sleepwalking City, and her latest poetry collection is Pájaro, Vértigo (Huerga & Fierro, 2014). She was selected among the 10 best young Latin-American writers by About.com, New York, 2011. Her website is www.lilianpallares.com.
  • I. K. Paterson-Harkness is a Dunedin-born writer and musician who now lives in Auckland. Her poetry has previously been published in Landfall, JAAM, Poetry New Zealand and takahē.
  • Mark Pirie is a Wellington poet, publisher, literary critic and archivist for PANZA (Poetry Archive of NZ Aotearoa). His latest collections are Rock and Roll: Selected Poems in Five Sets (Bareknuckle Books, 2016) and Ride the Tempest: Uncollected Early Poems 1993-1995 (Earl of Seacli Art Workshop, 2016). In 2017, he edited the football poetry anthology Boots: A Selection of Football Poetry 1890–2017 (HeadworX), and is preparing a new edition of his rugby poems Sidelights.
  • Joanna Preston is a Tasmanaut poet, editor and freelance creative writing tutor. Her first collection, The Summer King (OUP, 2009), won both the 2008 Kathleen Grattan Award for Poetry and the 2010 Mary Gilmore Prize. Her poems have been published widely, most recently in JAAM, Poetry New Zealand Yearbook and Landfall. She is the poetry editor for takahē magazine.
  • Lindsay Rabbitt published the poetry books Upagainstit, On The Line and Thewayofit (the latter two illustrated with line drawings by Jane Pountney) in the 1980s; his essay These Lives I Have Buried was published as part of the Montana Estates Essay series in 2004. He is currently completing two manuscripts: ‘My Mother Was Mrs Central Otago’ (a family memoir) and ‘Prayers for the Living and the Dead’ (a collection of poetry) from which ‘Flowers’ comes.
  • Mary Rainsford is a poet living in Wellington. She is currently studying English Literature and Criminology at Victoria University. In 2014, she won the New Zealand Poetry Society Competition. She was a regional finalist in the 2016 Slam Poetry Competition.
  • Essa Ranapiri (f.k.a. Joshua Morris) is a trans non-binary individual. They have previously been published in Mayhem, brief, Poetry New Zealand, Them, and Starling. They will write until they’re dead.
  • Vaughan Rapatahana is a New Zealand writer and reviewer. Although perhaps best known for his poetry, his bibliography also includes prose fiction, educational material, academic articles, philosophy and language critiques. Rapatahana is of Māori ancestry, and many of his works deal with the subjects of colonial repression and cultural encounter. His writing has been published in New Zealand and internationally. He was the winner of the inaugural Proverse Poetry Prize (2016). His latest poetry collection is ternian (erbacce-press, Liverpool, 2017).
  • Sahanika Ratnayake is a vaguely nomadic person: her parents moved to New Zealand from Sri Lanka when she was five, and since then she has lived intermittently in New Zealand, Melbourne, and the United Kingdom. Aside from writing poetry, she studies philosophy, an activity she fears is an obscene decadence and a scam.
  • Ron Riddell has worked and performed in many countries. A painter, musician and the author of a number of plays and novels, he has published 21 collections of verse. His latest book of poems is called Dance of Blue Dragonflies (Printable Reality, 2016). His work has been translated into German, Japanese, Turkish, Arabic, Hindi and Spanish. He is the current chairperson of the Titirangi Poets.
  • Gillian Roach is an Auckland poet and novelist. She has a BA in English literature and language from Victoria University, and a diploma in journalism. Gillian recently graduated with a Master’s of Creative Writing from AUT. For her Master’s in Creative Writing, she worked on a poetry collection, ‘Bread Winner’, exploring the question, ‘What do you do?’ (available in AUT creative commons).
  • Jeremy Roberts is a resident of Napier, where he MCs at Napier Live Poets. He has appeared at poetry events in many locations, and has had work published in a wide range of journals. He has performed and recorded poems with musicians in New Zealand, Texas, Saigon and Jakarta. His collected works, Cards on the Table, was published by IP in 2015.
  • Jack Ross is the managing editor of Poetry New Zealand. He works as a senior lecturer in Creative Writing at Massey University’s Auckland campus. His latest collection A Clearer View of the Hinterland: Poems & Sequences 1981–2014 was published by HeadworX in 2014. See further his blog, The Imaginary Museum: http://mairangibay.blogspot.com/.
  • Lisa Samuels is a transnational poet whose recent works include the novel Tender Girl (Dusie, 2015), the anthology A TransPacific Poetics (Litmus Press, 2017, with co-editor Sawako Nakayasu), and the poetry books Symphony for Human Transport (Shearsman, 2017) and Foreign Native (forthcoming 2018). She teaches writing and theory at the University of Auckland.
  • Emma Shi was the winner of the National Schools Poetry Award 2013, and her work has been published in literary journals such as Landfall. She is currently studying Classics at Victoria University of Wellington. She writes at facebook.com/emmlexx.
  • Sarah Shirley lives with her husband, her two young children, and a big brown dog. She is a junior doctor working in Hamilton. Her poems have appeared in takahē, Poetry New Zealand, Star*Line, Intima, Pedestal and elsewhere.
  • Jane Simpson is a Christchurch-based historian, poet and tutor. Her poems have appeared in Poetry New Zealand, takahē, Meniscus and Social Alternatives, and in a number of anthologies in New Zealand and Australia. Her first full-length collection, A world without maps, was published in 2016 by Interactive Publications (Brisbane). She has recently completed work on a second collection.
  • Ruby Mae Hinepunui Solly is a Ngāi Tahu writer and musician. Her writing has been published in Minarets, brief and Redraft. She often writes about themes of cultural identity, and lives in Wellington with her partner and pet chicken.
  • Laura Solomon is the author of several novels, three short story collections and two poetry collections.
  • Bill Sutton lives in Napier. He has worked as a scientist, politician and policy analyst, and his poems have appeared in Poetry New Zealand, takahē, JAAM, Blackmail Press, Catalyst, and Broadsheet. His second poetry collection, Billy Button — A Life, was published in 2016 (HB Poetry Press).
  • Richard Taylor is an Aucklander who has been published in various journals, including some previous Poetry New Zealands. His two main books are RED (Dead Poets, 1996) and Conversation With a Stone (Titus, 2007). It is said of Taylor that his mind is like an enormous ice-cream.
  • Loren Thomas is a writer from the Waikato region. She has previously been published in Poetry New Zealand, Mayhem and brief.
  • Nicola Thorstensen lives and writes in Dunedin. Her poetry has appeared in takahē, The Otago Daily Times, Poetry New Zealand and the political anthology Manifesto. She is a member of the Octagon Poetry Collective, which organises local poetry readings.
  • Vivienne Ullrich has had a lifelong affair with words as a reader, teacher, lawyer and poet. Last year she completed a Master’s in Creative Writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University.
  • Roland Vogt is an ‘ex creative writing tutor at Hawke’s Bay Polytech and overseas English teacher, now in hometown Wellington. Actually near the Waiwhetu taniwha and my first paper round.’
  • Richard von Sturmer was born in Devonport in 1957. His latest book, This Explains Everything, was published by Atuanui Press in November 2016. He also works with musician and filmmaker Gabriel White as The Floral Clocks. Their second CD, A Beautiful Shade of Blue, was released in May 2017.
  • Janet Wainscott lives near Christchurch. She writes poetry and creative nonfiction, and her writing has been published in takahē, Bravado and Shot Glass Journal (US).
  • Devon Webb is a 19-year-old full-time writer residing in Auckland. She writes: ‘Poetry is one of my greatest passions and I use it as a tool to express my emotions, communicate with others and spread positive messages in a political era of excess hatred and negativity. I am currently building up my body of poetic work at a rapid pace as I work on my debut novel, the first draft of which currently sits at over 100,000 words.’
  • Jen Webb is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Canberra. Her work includes the poetry collection, Proverbs from Sierra Leone (Five Islands Press, 2004) and the short story collection, Ways of Getting By (Ginninderra Press, 2006) as well as, more recently, the chapbook Stolen Stories, Borrowed Lines (Mark Time Press, 2015).
  • Mercedes Webb-Pullman completed a Master’s in Creative Writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington in 2011. Her work has appeared online and in print in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain and Palestine, in Turbine, 4th Floor, Poetry New Zealand Yearbook, Pure Slush, Swamp, Scum, Reconfigurations, The Electronic Bridge, Otoliths, Connotations, Main Street Rag and Caesura, among others, and in her books. She lives in Paekakariki, New Zealand.
  • Robyn Yudana Wellwood writes: ‘I have written and published articles for newspaper publications such as Jakarta Post in between being a mother, teacher, gallery owner and traveller. For the past two decades I have been living between New Zealand and Bali with my two children and husband. This is part of my first collection of poems on the themes of personal responses to bicultural passages of everyday rites. It’s deeply personal and I simply could not have written this material when I was younger.’
  • Maualaivao Albert Wendt is recognised internationally as one of Samoa’s, the Pacific’s, and New Zealand’s most significant novelists and poets. He has published numerous novels, collections of poetry and stories, and edited notable anthologies. His work has been translated into many languages and taught around the world.
  • Sigred Yamit studies Psychology at the University of Canterbury. She has been published in two of Printable Reality’s anthologies: We Society (2015) and Plate in the Mirror (2016). In her spare time she reads about famous dead people, writes poetry, and watches movies of a specific genre (lately it has been gangster movies).
  • Mark Young’s most recent books are Ley Lines (2016) and bricolage (2017), both from gradient books of Finland, The Chorus of the Sphinxes (2016), from Moria Books in Chicago, and some more strange meteorites (2017), from Meritage & i.e. Press, California/New York.



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ABOUT POETRY NEW ZEALAND:

Poetry New Zealand is New Zealand’s longest-running poetry magazine, showcasing new writing from this country and overseas. It presents the work of talented newcomers and developing writers as well as that of established leaders in the field.

Founded by Wellington poet Louis Johnson, who edited it from 1951 to 1964 as the New Zealand Poetry Yearbook, it was revived as a biennial volume by Frank McKay in 1971, a series which lasted until 1984. David Drummond (in collaboration with Oz Kraus’s Brick Row Publishing) began to publish it again biannually in 1990. The journal reached its 48th issue in 2014, the year its present managing editor, Jack Ross of Massey University’s School of English and Media Studies, took it back to its roots by renaming it the Poetry New Zealand Yearbook.

Poetry New Zealand has been edited by some of New Zealand’s most distinguished poets and academics, including Elizabeth Caffin, Grant Duncan, Riemke Ensing, Bernard Gadd, Leonard Lambert, Harry Ricketts, Elizabeth Smither and Brian Turner. The journal was overseen from 1993 to 2014 by celebrated poet, novelist, anthologist, editor and literary critic Alistair Paterson ONZM, with help from master printer John Denny of Puriri Press, and guest editors Owen Bullock, Siobhan Harvey and Nicholas Reid.

The magazine’s policy is to support poetry and poets both in New Zealand and overseas. Each issue since 1994 has contained a substantial feature showcasing the work of a developing or established poet. It also includes a selection of poetry from New Zealand and abroad, as well as essays, reviews and critical commentary.

The editor is grateful to Associate Professor Jenny Lawn, Head of the School of English and Media Studies at Massey University, for her financial support of this edition.

Managing editor
Jack Ross
editor@poetrynz.net

Advisory board
  • Thom Conroy
  • Jen Crawford
  • John Denny
  • Matthew Harris
  • Ingrid Horrocks
  • David Howard
  • Bronwyn Lloyd
  • Alistair Paterson
  • Tracey Slaughter
  • Bryan Walpert

Website: www.poetrynz.net
Webmaster: Warren Olds
Blog: poetrynzblog.blogspot.co.nz
Index: poetrynz.blogspot.co.nz

Submissions: The submission dates for each issue are between 1 May and 31 July of each year. Submit either (preferably) by email, with your poems pasted in the body of the message or included as a MSWord file attachment; or by post, to the address below, with a stamped self-addressed envelope, and contact details in your covering letter.

Dr Jack Ross
School of English and Media Studies
Massey University, Albany Campus
Private Bag 102904
North Shore Mail Centre
Auckland 0745

Please remember to include a short biography and current postal address with your submission. Contributors to each issue will receive a free copy.



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BACK COVER:





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