In a new post Emma Neale wonders if poetry reviews are ever obsolete. It’s a good question. She then posts reviews of two fabulous books.

Print media is in such strife these days poetry reviews have almost become an endangered species (which is partly why I started Poetry Shelf). Some newspapers such as The ODT and the Nelson Mail show a strong commitment to poetry and I still manage to get two or three published in The Herald. Landfall-on-line  is another source, as is the NZ Listener.

So perhaps we have to invent, cultivate and nourish new ways to talk and write about poetry (in new places). A blog like this is only ever going to hook the attention of our small enclave of poetry fans. A newspaper review might capture the attention of someone quite different (it happens!) and give a book a new readership.

What can we do?