Join Unity Books & Luncheon Sausage Books as editor Steve Braunias introduces his new poetry anthology ‘The Friday Poem: 100 New Zealand Poems’.
With readings from Dame Fiona Kidman, Bill Manhire, Joy Holley, James Brown & Tayi Tibble.
ABOUT THE BOOK
An anthology of new New Zealand verse, which first appeared in the popular Friday Poem slot on The Spinoff website. It features some of the most well-known and established names in New Zealand poetry as well as new, exciting writers.
‘If I had to pick one word to describe the current landscape of New Zealand literary journals, it would be ‘wild’. Practitioners are free to form their own outlets where they see gaps they would like to be filled and this makes for an exciting, vibrant time. Stimulating new journals appear regularly – over the last few years, the likes of Headland, Sweet Mammalian and the very newly established Oscen. With my co-editor, Francis Cooke, I set up Starling in the same way – an online literary journal for New Zealand writers under twenty-five years old. As a young writer growing up in an isolated region in the days before the Internet, it had been hard to find opportunities for publication. It also felt difficult to compete against established writers with decades more experience than me. I wanted to provide a space for others in similar situations.’
Full essay here
Kiri reads ‘So far below’, originally published in Ika No. 4 (2016).
Kiri Piahana-Wong is a poet and editor, and is the publisher at Anahera Press. Her poems have appeared in over forty journals and anthologies, most recently in tātai whetū: seven Māori women poets in translation, Bonsai: Best small stories from Aotearoa New Zealand, Landfall, and Ora Nui. Kiri lives in central Auckland with her partner and baby son. Her second full collection, Tidelines, is due out next year.
Featuring * Maata Wharehoka (Parihaka) * Janis Freegard * Harvey Molloy * Carina Gallegos * George Watterson * Maria McMillan * John Howell * Helen Rickerby * Tim Jones * Reading of ‘Remember the Brave’ (the new children’s book about World War One conscientious objectors), and more …
Entry by donation. One of the ‘Peace, Peoples and Planet’ weekend events, which begins on Friday night with a screening of ‘Tātarakihi:The Children of Parihaka’, with Maata Wharehoka, and includes sessions on Saturday morning with Moana Jackson, Ngāti Kahungunu / Ngāti Porou, speaking about peace and justice in Aotearoa; presentations on militarisation and climate justice in Aotearoa and the Pacific with Edwina Hughes, Peace Movement Aotearoa Coordinator, Teanau Tuiono, Ngāpuhi / NgaiTakoto / Atiu, Mary Moeono-Kolio and Auimatagi Joseph Moeono-Kolio, Pacific Climate Warriors; and a session on Sunday afternoon on faith perspectives on peace – full details of the ‘Peace, Peoples and Planet’ weekend are here
Last week Jillian Sullivan’s creative non-fiction essay ‘In the Midst of My True Life’ won the non-fiction section of the Elyne Mitchell Writing Awards in Australia. The essay is spliced with her poetry and, true to the award’s theme of writing about Australasian rural life, records life in the Ida Valley and the process of building a new life, handful by handful with straw and earth. Earlier in October her essay ‘Between Lands’ won the Juncture Memoir Contest in America, on the theme The Walls Between Us.
Link to read her essay ‘In the Midst of My True Life’ here
Link to memoir results here
Congratulation from Poetry Shelf!
Jillian Sullivan lives in a small village on a high alpine plateau in New Zealand. Her twelve published books (for adults and young adults) include creative non-fiction, novels, short story collections and poetry. She teaches writing in New Zealand, in Philadelphia for Rosemont College, and in Pennsylvania for the Highlights Foundation. Once the drummer in a woman’s rock band, and now grandmother of eight, her passion is natural building. Her latest book is the memoir A Way Home.
Now that is an eye-catching poetry list!
NZ Poetry Shelf 