Rapture: An Anthology of Performance Poetry in Aotearoa,
edited by Carrie Rudzinski and Grace Iwashita-Taylor
Auckland University Press, 2023

Rapture: An Anthology of Performance Poetry in Aotearoa, edited by Carrie Rudzinski and Grace Iwashita-Taylor, includes poems by almost 100 poets. So what is performance poetry? Performance poetry brings poems off the page whether under the tags: performance or slam (think slam competitions) or spoken word. It might be personal, it might political, or a mix of both. It might be out-to-the-edge-of-the-solar-system radical or rebellious. It might be holding-the-hand-of-the-person-next-to-you heartbreaking. It might make you laugh out loud or move your hips in time to the beat.

Listening to performance poetry is a means of transportation, elevation, challenge, reconfiguration, pleasure, world and self expanding … and yes! POETRY JOY!

Performance poetry in Aotearoa ranges from the exuberant dazzle of Show Ponies to the skin tingles of Tusiata Avia’s Wild Dogs Under my Skirt to poetry at festivals such as WOMAD, those in the big cities, those in the small towns, slams, open mic nights, to supportive communities such as Rising Voices Youth Movement, South Auckland Poets Collective, New Zealand Young Writers Festival, Stand Up Poetry and many many more. Performance poetry is alive, vital, wide ranging in Aotearoa.

“These poems riot in harmony,” Carrie and Grace say in their introduction. The editors invited poets to send in poems and then selected those that leapt off the page for them. Carrie and Grace remind us that performance poetry has been the poor cousin of published poetry, but that poets such as Sam Hunt, Tusiata Avia and Selina Tusitala Marsh have taken poems off the page and shared with the world in electrifying and heart catching ways. The anthology is in three sections: Burn it down / Float / Re-earth your roots.

The result is a means of body and heart transportation, elevation, challenge, reconfiguration, pleasure, world and self expanding … POETRY JOY!

Current New Zealand Poet Laureate Chris Tse has written a foreword that resonates with me on a number of levels. It is personal and it chimes with my view of reading, writing, creating and performing poetry. He talks about a Facebook comment that stuck when someone claimed Chris’s poem was more like a story! The comment got him musing on what poetry is. In the end, and it is what guides me as a poet and as a poetry reviewer, the key thing is what does poetry do. For me, it is an open space, an invitation to discover, experiment, play, to take risks, to find comfort. There are ZERO rules. Working with children over the past decades, I know the power of poetry to nourish self, to open windows, build travel routes, self confidence, self bloom. When Chris writes this, my heart moves: “Poetry has been that lifeline for me at various points in my life, and while I write mostly for the page, there’s no denying that getting to perform my work has played an important part in my growth as a poet and as a person.” Yes!

Auckland University Press has produced a sweet book to hold in the hand, great paper stock, striking cover and perfect internal design (by Seven.co.nz), with a hard cover and plenty of photographs and posters.

What better way to celebrate the arrival of this stunning anthology with a reading in the Poetry Shelf Cafe. This morning I have been in my cafe listening again, in the time when I most need poetry, and here I am boosted by the power of poetry performance. Thank you for your mahi, your aroha, your joy. Take a listen! Then take a read!

The editors

Carrie Rudzinski has performed her work over the past 17 years in six countries and has been featured in Bustle, HuffPost and Teen Vogue. She ranked 4th in the world at the 2014 Women of the World Poetry Slam, won the 2019 Pussy Riot Award at Auckland Fringe Festival, and co-founded Auckland’s JAFA Poetry Slam. Her poems have been published in Landfall, The Spinoff, Stasis Journal, Catalyst and Muzzle, among others. She is the author of seven books and five spoken word albums, and from 2016–2020 she taught the only spoken word course offered at a tertiary level in Oceania at Manukau Institute of Technology. Carrie is the co-creator of three poetry theatre shows – How We Survive (2019), The Bitching Hour (2023) and Hysterical (2022) – the latter of which won Best New Aotearoa Play at the Wellington Theatre Awards and Outstanding Performance Poetry at Auckland Fringe Festival.

Grace Iwashita-Taylor, breathing bloodlines of Samoa, England and Japan, is an artist of upu/words on the page, digital storytelling and live performance, and is dedicated to carving, elevating, and holding spaces for storytellers of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. She is a recipient of the CNZ Emerging Pacific Artist 2014 and the Auckland Mayoral Writers Grant 2016, and highlights of her work include holding the visiting international writer in residence at the University of Hawaiʻi in 2018, and being a co-founder of the first youth poetry slam in Aotearoa, Rising Voices (2011–2016) and the South Auckland Poets Collective. She has published two collections, Afakasi Speaks (2013) and Full Broken Bloom (2017) with ala press, is the writer of My Own Darling commissioned by Auckland Theatre Company (2015, 2017, 2019), and curator of UPU (Auckland Arts Festival 2020 & Kia Mau Festival 2021). Alongside Dr Lana Lopesi, she is co-director of Flying Fetu Festival, dedicated to building abundant futures for Moana artists of upu/word. Grace is currently working on her next body of work, ‘Water Memories’.

Auckland University Press page

The readings

Tamara Tulitua

Tamara reads ‘y/ours not mine’

Tamara Tulitua flows from the villages of Safa’ato’a, Gagāifo, Matāutu, Sapāpali’i, Vailima and Tanugamanono in Sāmoa to her birthplace Aotearoa New Zealand. Tamara writes across fiction, poetry, essay forms. She is a graduate of law and politics from Te Herenga Waka|Victoria University of Wellington and holds a Masters in Creative Writing from Te Pūtahi Tuhi Auaha o Te Ao|International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML). She was the IIML Emerging Pasifika Writer in Residence in 2022. Her reviews, fiction, prose/poetry have appeared in anthologies, literary journals and other online publications including Pantograph Punch, Turbine|Kapohau and the Post. Tamara is the founder and facilitator of Vāhui, a collective of Māori/Moana writers.

Hala Nasr

Hala reads ‘To death, we crawl’

Hala Nasr is an Egyptian poet born and raised on the coastal North Shore of Tāmaki Makarau, Aotearoa. Exploring themes of diaspora, solidarity, womanhood, and difference, her poems appear in We Call to the Eye & the Night – Love Poems by Writers of Arab Heritage and Rapture: An Anthology of Performance Poetry from Aotearoa New Zealand. In a past life, Hala performed her poetry solo and with DECOLONISE poetry collective (co-founded with Jahra Wasasala and Logan Dobson) at events including Pasifika, Auckland Fringe festival, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland Town Hall, and Herald Theatre.

Amber Esau

Amber reads ‘Shapeshifter’

Amber Esau is a Sā-Māo-Rish (Ngāpuhi / Manase) writer of things from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. She is a poet, storyteller, and professional bots. Always vibing at a languid pace, her work has been published both in print and online.  

Carrie Rudzinski

Carrie reads ‘Always a Godmother / Never a God’ from her album Goddess Bound with original music by Jason Anderson. Photo credit Andi Crown.

(see bio above)

Renee Liang

Renee reads ‘Chinglish’

Renee Liang is a poet, playwright and essayist. She has toured eight plays and collaborates on visual arts works, dance, film, opera, community events and music. Some poetry and short fiction are anthologised. A memoir of motherhood, When We Remember to Breathe, with Michele Powles, appeared in 2019. In 2018 she was appointed a Member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to the arts.

Ben Brown

Ben reads ‘A silent poem’

Ben Brown (Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Koroki, Ngāti Paoa) was born 1962 in Motueka, which is further away from him now than he cares to think about. He has been writing all his life for his own enjoyment and published his first children’s book in 1991. He is an award winning author who writes for children and adults across all genres, including poetry, which he also enjoys performing. Generally, if pressed, he will have something to say about anything. In May 2021 he was made the inaugural NZ Reading Ambassador for Children – Te Awhi Rito. He is also a father of two, which he considers his best work to date. He lives in Lyttelton.

Daren Kamali

Daren reads ‘Con-olized’

Daren Kamali – Fijian born New Zealander – lover of words – art – family and Pacific culture. A researcher and multidisciplinary revival artist – poet. Worked in the GLAM sector for over a decade now.. published several poetry collections and recorded musical albums since 1998. writers residencies include – Pacific Writer in Residence at University of Hawai’i -Manoa – 2012 and International Writers Festival 2014 at University of Iowa. Masters in Creative Writing – A Class Honours – University of Auckland 2016. Senior Librarian Pacific – Public Engagement 2017-2023.