Kia ora,

Please join Te Herenga Waka University Press and Scorpio Books for the launch of Sick Power Trip, Erik Kennedy’s excellent new poetry collection.

Thursday 10 July
Arrive from 5:30pm for a 6pm start
Scorpio Books, 120 Hereford Street, Ōtautahi Christchurch
View more info on our Facebook page.

The book will be launched by Claudia Jardine, while Ciaran Fox and Tarn Wright will add to the celebration with readings.

To help Scorpio Books manage catering and capacity, please RSVP here.

Free event.
All welcome!

I stored my plan for world peace
safely in my coat pocket,
and then I washed the coat.

Sick Power Trip is Erik Kennedy’s most personal and vulnerable book yet. These are poems that tell us: the world is unwell, and sometimes writers are, too. Kennedy scrutinises the broken social contract and the dangerous actors who seem determined to dominate us, and writes with open eyes about long COVID and living wages, self-medication and sea temperatures. If it feels like we’re stuck in a post-truth moment, Kennedy reminds us that some things remain true and vital: self care, empathy, and solidarity.

‘This collection is a masterful example of taking back power one poem at a time.’ –Chris Tse

‘With wry humour and a distinct playfulness, this new collection offers not a balm for the world but the courage to dismantle it.’ —Ash Davida Jane