dear poetry fans

I am on a WordPress learning curve so my blog appearances are way down at the moment. Everything takes me ages but I am on track to be an active source of news, reviews, videos, audio and poetry connections in Aotearoa soon.

Thanks to everyone who got in touch with offers of help!

I have a swag of inviting local poetry books to share with you – yes there’s a mountain of fabulous books out and it feels like the new releases this year are missing out on both launches and threatened review pages. I want to help.

Good though to see new ventures taking off and stalwarts working hard to make our books visible. The Coalition of Books for one.

For the first time in my life I got enmeshed in politics to a heightened degree: I felt layers of anxiety about the covid world, about the despicable and untrustworthy behaviour of some politicians both here and abroad, about the destructive force of conspiracy theorists, about the hunger for power at the expense of communities, about ideology to which we become immune, about the challenge we face in putting the health of the planet and the people ahead of our individual desires …. all of this and so much more became a big soupy mess in my head and heart, and I felt obliged to keep saying NO to it all on social media.

Fermenting such a soupy mess has made me feel ill.

So although I want to stay informed about the state of things, from the local to the global, I need to focus on what keeps me well – celebrating our diverse and heart-feeding poetry communities.

Poetry is a way of challenging, connecting, singing, musing, contemplating, strolling.

No matter the personal challenges I face, poetry is a wellbeing kit – for me as reader, writer and blogger.

I hope Poetry Shelf will continue to offer you, the poetry fan, avenues to pursue and small additions to your own wellbeing kit.

kia kaha

keep safe

aroha nui

Paula Green