New verse by writer Mary-Jane Duffy. The invisible years The invisible older woman is in focus now. Sorry, she has you in focus now. She looks at you. She wants so much to look at you. She’s invisible. No one notices her. Good. The invisible older woman sneaks around the corner following that … Read more
It’s Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day! All week this week we’ve presented new verse on the delicate subject of fucking; today, we present a poem of much greater significance and importance, by Michael Hall of Dunedin. Constructive Criticism Awww come on ref The guy’s clearly offside Aww come on ref That’s not a penalty Aww … Read more
All week this week we present new verse, to celebrate Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day on Friday. Today’s poet: Sam Hunt of Kaipara. The further you look ‘The further you look the less you see’ she said as she smiled & went down on me. She talked of her marriage a contract … Read more
All week this week we present new verse, to celebrate National Poetry Day on Friday. Today’s poet: Tayi Tibble of Kelburn. Assimilation they consider themselves to be a modern couple they take turns giving and receiving oral they split the bills evenly and they share the chores but when he … Read more
New verse by Auckland writer Carin Smeaton. Our Lady every noon moses calls to our lady of the rosary she jus ‘round the corner eyes always 2 her heart that gurl ‘cept for the time she set the methodist church on fire feeding it all the dreams she ever held bright & o … Read more
New verse by the winner of the 2018 Ockham New Zealand national book award prize for poetry, Elizabeth Smither. Night time words to Ruby I hold you in my arms and say beautiful girl, beautiful girl. You do not want to go to bed: instead you say you’re instructed to lie between … Read more
New verse by Kaipara poet Sam Hunt. Mum and Mary In the dream my mother is chatting with her friend, Mary, mother of Jesus – Mum and Mary sharing a joint. Mary tends to rabbit on about the cost of living, of everything ‘going up’; husband, Joseph, coming in lately … Read more
New verse by Wellington poet Tayi Tibble. Ode to Johnsonville’s Cindy Crawford 1. Once at a Jehovah’s Witness convention an old frightened man pleaded, Adrienne? Is that you? His face was a screwed-up ball of God-fearing agony and, accused, I blurted, No! I’m just her daughter! I remember the relief in his features; it was … Read more
Spinoff Review of Books editor Steve Braunias revives the revolutionary live email interview with a new star of New Zealand literature – the wildly talented Tayi Tibble, author of Poūkahangatus, her debut collection of verse which is launched later today by Victoria University Press. I’ve been thinking for a little while now that something extraordinary … Read more
New verse from Auckland writer CK Stead. Witchy Wellington A summer southerly sky grey the sea a beat-up and passing Grass Street I thought ‘Intolerable Lauris’ – not so much, or not just, the person but the name, the way those words seemed to belong together – good company, great fun, wordy and witty but … Read more
He viewed Greymouth as “sub-human”, rather wished James K Baxter would STFU, and regarded the poetry of “plump and round” Bill Manhire as “promising”. A new book shares the 1968 diary of Landfall founder Charles Brasch. January 25, 1968 Jim [Baxter] talks so continuously because he is driven all the time by his need to put his … Read more
New verse by Eastbourne writer Maggie Rainey-Smith. Jogging she is young white and affiliated to a famous writing school an MA no less I’m assuming she must run at the very least so I can’t take offence when she tells me to jog on because I already know I’m invisible typing my life … Read more
New verse by Oturehua writer Brian Turner. Small Town Blues To hell with the songs of birds, the buzzing of bees and the breeze breathing in the trees, there’s always someone who thinks the whole village appreciates their taste in music. Brian Turner, 2018 The Spinoff Review of Books is proudly … Read more
New love poetry by Wellington writer Hera Lindsay Bird. I want to get high my whole life with you i feel it in my leather hotpant pockets i feel it in my anime wind blowing through an alpine tennis resort overcome with wildflowers i feel it in my ironic valley girl hairflip I feel it … Read more
New verse by Wellington writer Jane Arthur, who pocketed $5000 last week as winner of the 2018 Sarah Broom Poetry Prize. Keanu is afraid I am afraid of the dark. But I mean that in a real philosophical way. – Keanu Reeves Keanu must seek out the light. The dark makes him feel so afraid: it’s … Read more
New verse by Dunedin writer Victor Billot. The Hierarchy Invisible homeless The dead Care worker Solo mother (bad suburb) Loan shark Bottom feeder Dolt Poet Casual employee PhD in Fine Arts Intern Experimental rodent Minion Serf Serf (creative industries) Mid-career journalist Ten years to go and holding on desperately “Between jobs” Climate scientist Aspirational … Read more
New verse by Wellington writer Claudia Jardine. The Vodka Rondeau In the spare room there is a bed below the mould and rusted red of the top flat’s hot water tank, which burst and made the room so rank that you can’t sleep there clear-headed. We are the deaded; few drinks bled … Read more
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble. Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. Like last night, on the … Read more
In memoriam: Golden Bay poet Gordon Challis. Spinoff Review of Books literary editor Steve Braunias writes: Takaka writer Gordon Challis died on March 2. He was 85. His was a discrete presence in New Zealand poetry to the point where he was defined by absence: in 1960, Landfall editor Charles Brasch named Challis as one … Read more
New verse by Maraea Rakuraku, taken from a new anthology in English and te reo (translated by Jamie Cowell). when does it start? It’s not waving a flag, holding a banner, knowing what postcolonial theory means and when to use it, memorising quotes and lining them up like soldiers that are sent out in waves … Read more
Amanda Robinson meets five Auckland writers who are stunningly good at a much-derided art form – spoken word poetry. Perhaps the most cringeworthy phrase in all the arts, the one that makes everyone recoil, including most poets, is “spoken word poetry”. But when it’s good, when a poem reading ends and you realise you’ve been … Read more
New verse by Dunedin writer Michael Hall. After… The organs begin shutting down is there a panic in the body’s house – a few resigned to stay like, in war, before the rat-a-tat advancement merely miles away of the grey enemy a hasty packing someone saying leave the piano, leave it another sits, … Read more
New verse by Auckland writer Courtney Sina Meredith. Y S scrubs the pots so give him Y P was there so give him Y X cleared her weekend so give her Y S wants kids so give him Y S stops calling unlikeable women ‘bitches’ so give him Y P sends a text … Read more
Vincent O’Sullivan assesses the 1957 Chrysler of New Zealand writing, Allen Curnow, the subject of a 700-page biography by the late Terry Sturm. “A big one.” It’s a phrase you’ll come across several times in reading Allen Curnow. It could be a fish caught off Kare Kare, a talent another writer didn’t have, an implied assessment … Read more
All week this week the Spinoff Review of Books devotes itself to poetry in the build-up to Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day on Friday. Today: Kirsten Warner explores why it is that New Zealand poetry has such a friend in Phantom. The first time I saw one of Phantom Billstickers’ poster poems I couldn’t believe … Read more
New verse by west Auckland writer Paula Green, who was awarded the Prime Minister’s award for poetry this week and pockets $60,000. The New York Public Library Josephine stands outside The New York Public Library like a scarecrow and gapes at the Grecian urns, the guardian lions glaring from plinths. Really, she is … Read more
New verse – he wrote it on Wednesday, actually – by Wellington writer Bill Manhire. Last words It’s nice out there, says the dying man. Yes, says the doctor, not too bad at all. Bill Manhire, 2017 The Spinoff Review of Books is brought to you by Unity Books.
New verse by Wellington writer James Brown. Flying Fuck We spend too much time doing things for people who don’t give a flying fuck about us. What is a flying fuck anyway? Is that line earning its place? It could probably be cut. James Brown, 2017 The Spinoff Review of Books … Read more
A new work by our leading political poet. When Bill English grasped the reins of power last year, he plunged a concrete post of literature into the tender soils of New Zealand by reading aloud a bit of poetry. This week, courageously, to staunch the bleeding of the national auditory canal brought on by Colin … Read more