The state of New Zealand poetry in 2018

Book of the Week: In which Spinoff Review of Books literary editor Steve Braunias commissions Murray Edmond to review an anthology of New Zealand poetry – first appearing on the Spinoff Review of Books – published by Steve Braunias The cover of The Friday Poem: 100 New Zealand Poems is a photo of someone riding a bike … Read more

The Friday Poem: ‘After Lucy Tinakori’s Famous Party’ by Vincent O’Sullivan

New verse by Dunedin writer Vincent O’Sullivan.   After Lucy Tinakori’s Famous Party   I love it that poetry now so possesses the world it is not possible to play ‘pin the tail’ at a children’s party without every child being the winner wherever the tail’s pinned. Space is guaranteed compliant the way thumb’s fumbling’s inevitably … Read more

The Friday Poem: ‘what the poem isn’t allowed to do’ by essa may ranapiri

New verse by Kirikiriroa writer essa may ranapiri.   what the poem isn’t allowed to do the poem isn’t allowed to say abolish the police abolish the police abolish the police return their uniforms to the dirt and their sirens to the odyssey tie a leash to a grenade and send it off teach it how … Read more

The Friday Poem: ‘Ode to Auckland’ by Ian Wedde

New verse by Auckland writer Ian Wedde.   from Ode to Auckland   When the weather warms up I swim in the murky Waitemata in the upper basin at the bottom of Hamilton Road. Sometimes my friend Jonathan is there, he’s a composer and swims about in a leisurely fashion shifting his rhythm from time … Read more

The Friday Poem: ‘The invisible years’ by Mary-Jane Duffy

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

The Friday Poem: ‘Constructive Criticism’ by Michael Hall

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

The Friday Poem: ‘Night time words to Ruby’ by Elizabeth Smither

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

The Friday Poem: ‘Small Town Blues’ by Brian Turner

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

The Friday Poem: ‘I want to get high my whole life with you’ by Hera Lindsay Bird

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

The Friday Poem: ‘Keanu is afraid’ by Jane Arthur

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

The Friday Poem: ‘Liking Similes’ by James Brown

New verse by Wellington writer James Brown   Liking Similes Here, the cicadas sing like Christian women’s choirs in a disused cotton mill. ‘Letter from the Estuary’ by Erik Kennedy When I hear cicadas, their singing always reminds me of Christian women’s choirs in a disused cotton mill. I picture the conductor’s arms bent in … Read more

The Friday Poems: ‘The Vodka Rondeau’ and ‘My father dreams of his father’ by Claudia Jardine

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

The Friday Poem: ‘Evidently Chickentown’ by John Cooper Clarke

Classic verse from 1980 by John Cooper Clarke, ahead of his show at the Crystal Palace in Mt Eden on Saturday night.   Evidently Chickentown The fucking cops are fucking keen To fucking keep it fucking clean The fucking chief’s a fucking swine Who fucking draws a fucking line At fucking fun and fucking games … Read more

The Friday Poems: Four by Gordon Challis, 1932-2018

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

The Friday Poem: ‘In the 1960s an Influx of Māori Women’ by Tayi Tibble

New verse by Tayi Tibble, who was awarded the prestigious Adam Prize at Victoria University’s IIML this week.   In the 1960s an Influx of Māori Women   Move to Tinakori Road in their printed mini dresses. Grow flowers on white stone rooftops to put in their honeycomb vases. Dust the pussy-shaped ashtray their husbands … Read more

The Friday Poem: ‘Every day my name is out there’ by Diane Brown

Political verse by Dunedin writer Diane Brown.   Every day my name is out there Some say it’s pointless, we have no say but every day they land in my inbox or on Facebook, petitions asking for my name: on state housing, refugees, the TPPA, the writers imprisoned for telling the truth, the stoning of … Read more