Closed for the night Closed by fog and mist Closed by strong winds Closed by gates Closed for the weekend Closed for the duration Closed by seismic activity Closed by Rūamoko Closed by bushfires Closed by the fiery fingers of Mahuika Closed till Christmas Closed until next year Closed until the sale of conservation land goes through Closed until the Coalition Government decides otherwise
David Eggleton
David Eggleton lives in Ōtepoti Dunedin and is a former New Zealand Poet Laureate. His Respirator: A Laureate Collection 2019 -2022 was published by Otago University Press in 2023. He has contributed to Koe: An Aotearoa ecopoetry anthology, edited by Janet Newman and Robert Sullivan (Otago University Press, 2024), and No Other Place to Stand: an anthology of climate change poetry from Aotearoa New Zealand, edited by Jordan Hamel, Rebecca Hawkes, Erik Kennedy and Essa May Ranapiri, (Auckland University Press, 2022).
“The alarm bells should be be ringing loudly in your ears, as our Public conservation is under serious threat by the current government. The Conservation Amendment Bill 2026 represents a direct assault on New Zealand’s back country heritage, threatening to strip away long standing safeguards and clear the way for a massive sell off or commercial development of up to 60% of our public land.” Hiking NZ
Another sizzling simmering wonderful week of poetry delight and connections.
I spotted David Eggleton’s poem online and got musing and caring even more about all the things a Government could and must do to care for people and planet.
Meanwwhile I’ve been musing on how to get Poetry Box sizzling and simmering – a place where children taste the rewards of playing with words, a place to share my love of picture books for children, along with fiction and nonfiction, and especially poetry for and by children. I am still musing!
And thank you for responding to my poem invitation last weekend – I will be reading and replying this week.
An invitation: This week an invitation to choose a poetry book published in Aotearoa in 2026 that you have loved. Write a paragraph sharing why. Send to me by Jun 27th. I will post some on Poetry Shelf. paulajoygreen@gmail.com
Monday: Poetry Shelf Monday Poem: ‘All we have is the urupa’ by Hana Pera Aoake
Tuesday: Poetry Shelf Playing Favourites: Erik Kennedy picks Jane Arthur
Wednesday: Poetry Shelf Speaking Out To For With: Food as a Weapon by Sheila Hadstone
Thursday: Poetry Shelf Playing Favourites: Morrin Rout chooses Dinah Hawken
Friday: Poetry Shelf celebrates Landfall Tauraka 251 with nine readings
Landfall Tauraka 251 is a gift package of poetry, fiction, artwork, an interview, a terrific winning essay and reviews. The selection of poems and poets catches the eclectic reach and possibilities of poetry in Aotearoa in 2026, whether performed or published or shared online.
I have two ongoing series on Poetry Shelf that resonate with this issue. The Poetry Shelf Breathing Room offers poems to pause on and breathe in slowly and deeply. And secondly Poetry Shelf Speaks Out To For With – where poetry is a way to speak out, whether political and/or getting personal, whether nuanced or loud. This is what I get, as I spend the weekend reading and rereading Landfall’s poetry selection. I am stalling on every poem, breathing in the exquisite lyricism, the lightness, the visual brocades of detail. And then again, I am musing on poetry that is speaking out in myriad vital ways.
Landfall Tauraka 251 feels like my favourite Landfall to date. The subject matter roves from cities towns and streets to eulogies and grief, to family, pūkeko and museums, to swamp forests and to sweet hot chocolate. There are poets new to me along with poets I have admired for ages.
Plus there is a cracking, standout, must-read interview with Tusiata Avia where she goes deep into writing poetry. She speaks of the boost Bill Manhire and IIML gave her. She speaks of her vulnerabilities and doubt in the early years and how intuition is a key tool as a poet.
This is an issue to listen to, to linger over, to track new poets you want to read again. Already my issue is well thumbed.
To celebrate Landfall Tauraka 251, I invited nine poets to record their poems.
ART Megan Brady, Julian Hooper, John Reynolds, Deborah Smith FICTION Molly Crighton, Heather Holdaway, Sam Keenan, Cait Kneller, David Large, Jemma Richardson, Grant Smithies, Cora Tate, Pearl Tuohy, Tarn Wright NON-FICTION Cian Dennan, Uzair Khan POETRY Tunmise Adebowale, Hannah Rose Arnold, Nick Ascroft, Izzie Birnie, Cindy Botha, Hana Buchanan, Nathaniel Calhoun, Kim Cope Tait, Brett Cross, Brandon de la Cruz, David Eggleton, Craig Foltz, Alison Glenny, Eliana Gray, Jackson, Erik Kennedy, Fiona Kidman, Brent Kininmont, Leonard Lambert, Jessica Le Bas, Carolyn McCurdie, Kirstie McKinnon, Alice Miller, Anuja Mitra, Janet Newman, Grace Nottingham, Gregory O’Brien, Jilly O’Brien, Claire Orchard, Harriet Prebble, Joanna Preston, Hope Rännäli, Vaughan Rapatahana, Richard Reeve, Holly Ruth, Will Salmon, Regan Solomon, Jillian Sullivan, Stacey Teague, Dunstan Ward, Andrew Paul Wood, Nicholas Wright REVIEW Sally Blundell, John Gereats, Michael O’Leary, Jeffrey Paparoa Holman, Paddy Richardson, Elizabeth Smither, Bronwyn Wylie-Gibb
The readings
Alison Glenny
‘Waffle’
Alison Glenny lives near Te Whanganui-a-Tara and is the author of several collections of mostly prose poems, published by Otago University Press and Compound Press. In 2024 they were the Aotearoa recipient of the Caselberg Trust Margaret Egan City of Literature residency in Whaka Oho Rahi/Broad Bay, on the Otago Peninsula.
Hana Buchanan
Photo Credit: Julia Sabugosa
Hana Buchanan (Ngāti Haumia ki Te Aro, Taranaki iwi, Te Atiawa, Taranaki Whānui ki te Upoko o te Ika) is a word person, a tangata toikupu — poet, kaikaranga, kaitito waiata — and yoga teacher working from her ancestral lands in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Hana’s poetry is published online and in print journals and her first full collection, Kupu Whenua, is out now!
Cian Dennan
‘Fragments on the house of memory’
Cian Dennan is a poet, educator and multidisciplinary artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa. Cian completed her Master’s degree in Creative Writing at the University of Auckland in 2025, and continues to develop a body of work exploring the intricacies of self and memory from a Kiwi-Italian perspective. Cian’s work has been recognised by a number of prestigious awards, including the Phoenix Prize and the Garth Maxwell Creative Project Prize.
Tunmise Adebowale
‘Beautiful People in Dunedin’
Tunmise Adebowale is a Nigerian-born New Zealander. Her work has been published in several major publications, including Poetry Ireland Review, Landfall Tauraka, The Spinoff, The Big Idea, The Pantograph Punchand Newsroom.
Nick Ascroft’s most recent book of poetry is It’s What He Would’ve Wanted (Te Herenga Waka University Press, 2025).
Fiona Kidman
Fiona Kidman at home
‘Blue This and That’
Fiona Kidman writes poetry, novels, memoirs and essays. Her most recent poetry collection was The Midnight Plane, gathering up work of the past 50 years, and new poems.Her fiction has won a number of prizes and is published internationally, particularly in France. She lives on a high hill in Wellington.
Jillian Sullivan
‘Framework’
Jillian Sullivan lives in the Ida Valley, Central Otago. Her thirteen published books include creative non-fiction, novels, short stories and poetry. Her latest book is Map for the Heart- Ida Valley Essays, Otago University Press.
Alice Miller
‘Old Romantic’
Alice Miller’s fourth poetry collection is Here & Thereafter (Pavilion, 2026). She is also the author of a novel, More Miracle than Bird (Tin House). Alice lives in Berlin, but she and her family are planning to return to Aotearoa in 2027.
NZ Poetry Shelf 