Category Archives: NZ Poetry reading
Irish poet Vona Groarke visits Wellington
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Would love to be in Wellington for this! Should I fly down for the day!
Poetry Live’s 35th Birthday Celebration
Tuesday 5th May 8pm, Thirsty Dog, Karangahape Road, Auckland
The Poetry Live team welcomes you to a special event: our 35th birthday. All through the month of May we will be holding special readings celebrating Poetry Live and this important milestone.
To kick things off on Tuesday 5th May we will have a mihi from MC Rachael; a short speech about Poetry Live from Judith McNeil; music by Otis Mace; poetry readings by former Poetry Live MCs Miriam Barr, Piet Nieuwland, and Christian Jensen; and a Poetry Live-themed open mic.
Guest musician: Otis Mace
Otis Mace is a Auckland based singer/songwriter/musician who performs crafty, irreverent, comic takes on life in Aotearoa. Love ballads, pop noir and surreal protest songs tangential to most mainstream music. A long-time supporter of the Poetry Live nights and wholehearted ranter ,reader and raconteur, come and see his seventh show as guest artist! Vivid stories introduce provocative and punchy pop gems. He has toured extensively and opened for diverse acts: Billy Bragg, The Violent Femmes, Screaming Blue Messiahs, D.O.A. Albums are on Powertool and Jayrem and Ode, and now OMM (Otis Mace Music).
Guest poets:
Miriam Barr
Miriam Barr first came to Poetry Live in 2001 as a 19 year-old who had never read her poems to anyone but a few friends and family members. She is now the current national coordinator of NZ’s National Poetry Day and her book Bullet Hole Riddle was published by Steele Roberts last year. Poetry Live has been her home away from home for over a decade. One night at Poetry Live in 2005 she met her husband, poet Daniel Larsen, and poet Shane Hollands, a meeting that would lead to the creation of performance poetry group The Literatti. For six years she served as an MC and saw Poetry Live through its last year at Grand Central in Ponsonby, the move to the Classic Studio on Queen St, a short stint at Te Karanga and the first years at the Thirsty Dog.
Piet Nieuwland
Piet Nieuwland started reading poetry in Kaikohe and made his first appearance at Poetry Live in 1984. He soon took on the role as MC and was included in the Globe Tapes. Since then he has read poetry in a wide variety of gatherings, meetings, hui, cafes, restaurants and bars throughout New Zealand and beyond, including Pecha kucha evenings. His poems have been published in Landfall, Live Lines, Mattoid, Takahe, Snafu, Take Flight, Tongue In Your Ear, Poetry NZ and in online journals including the Blue Note Review. He is currently involved in Poets Exposed readings in Whangarei and has just co-edited a chapbook compilation of Northland poetry titled Fast Fibres Poetry. Fast Fibres 2 is in preparation.
Christian Jensen
Christian is a former creative director of The Literatti, and was one of the organisers of the Metonymy Project, a collaborative project that sends a poet and a visual artist on a 6-week blind date, culminating in an exhibition. His work has been published in such places as Snorkel, The Hay(na)ku Anthology, Otoliths and the De-Formed Paper. His book, Zin Uru (Soapbox Press) was released in 2008. Christian was an MC at Poetry Live from 2006-2012.
Open Mic: This week we have a themed open mic. We welcome you to read poetry about Poetry Live. (General open mic will also run.) 5 min max as usual.
Koha entry
MC: Kiri
Grace Taylor’s fund-raising gig
For more, ongoing information check out the Facebook page here
Launch of Roger Horrock’s Song of the Ghost in Auckland
National Poetry Day returns for its 18th year – Registrations are now open
National Poetry Day returns for its 18th year – Registrations are now open
The highly popular and eclectic National Poetry Day will be staged for its 18th year on 28 August 2015. A varied programme of events around the country will celebrate poetry in its many forms and engage with writers and readers at all levels.
“National Poetry Day is a golden opportunity to celebrate New Zealand poetry not just within extended poetry communities but also within mainstream contexts … Across the nation, a range of eclectic and stimulating events demonstrate new ways to promote the joy of poetry,” says poet Paula Green.
Damien Wilkins, Director of the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University says, “The Day is an incredibly valuable opportunity to connect readers and writers …The broad range of poets and events, as well as its national reach, make this a highly significant date on the literary calendar.”
In 2015, you can keep abreast of poetry day developments with the National Poetry Day blog (https://nznationalpoetryday.wordpress.com/). It’s dedicated to reviewing New Zealand poetry and keeping those involved as coordinators for Poetry Day events informed about registrations and progress. It is bound to become a hub for poetry lovers nationwide.
This is the first year that National Poetry Day has had no association with the New Zealand Book Awards, and it is funded through a grant from Creative NZ. “We are extremely grateful for CNZ’s support of this year’s event,” says Nicola Legat, chair of the Book Awards Trust, which manages National Poetry Day, with the help of Booksellers NZ.
“They are supporting an amazing grassroots event that takes all sorts of wonderful forms, from poetry readings in libraries and halls to random acts of poetry in the public street.”
Miriam Barr is back on board as National Coordinator, and delighted to be involved in this important programme of events in 2015.
Registrations are now open to enrol your event for National Poetry Day. The combined registration and funding application form can be found online here. All registered events and activities will be included in the official calendar of events.
Event Registrations and Funding Applications both close on Monday, 25 May. For further information and to enrol your event, fill in the form online, or after 31 March, contact Miriam Barr, National Coordinator Poetry Day 2015 miriamnpd@gmail.com.
Important Links:
Registration and Funding application form
NZ National Poetry Day blog
National Poetry Day Facebook page
Media contact:
Nicola Legat
Chairperson, Book Awards Trust
Email: nmlegat@gmail.com
Phone: 021 958 887
General contact for physical forms before 31 March:
Sarah Forster
Booksellers NZ
email: sarah.forster@bookawardstrust.org.nz
Important Dates:
25 May Deadline for registration and closing day for funding applications
1 June Funding Applications confirmed to applicants
19 August National media release sent out
28 August National Poetry Day
WAIHEKE POETRY FESTIVAL”IN THE AIR” 2015
WAIHEKE POETRY FESTIVAL”IN THE AIR” 2015
Guests: South Auckland Poets Collective ( SAPC NZ)
MCs: BARAKA 11 00am – 1 00pm; SUSI NEWBORN 1 30pm – 3 30pm
closing: KATY SOLJAK; featuring scheduled poets
non-smoking event, free entry, some open mic slots avail.
Where: Artworks Amphitheatre, backcourt,Waiheke Library, off Oceanview Rd, Oneroa
When: Sunday 22nd March 11 00am – 3 30pm
NZ Poetry Shelf 