Friday, December 11, 2015

nzepc six pack sound #02



I have to say that I was pretty chuffed to see that the second set of "six pack" recordings was up on the nzepc. Why? Well, because one of them is by me, of course. But no, there are plenty of other reasons to feel excited by this initiative by the unfailingly inventive Michele Leggott, with her able collaborators Tim Page and Brian Flaherty.

Once again, the old jostles with the new, the "established" with the up-and-coming, in this interesting selection of six poets.

Last year it was Murray Edmond, Ya-Wen Ho, Alice Miller, Tessa Priest, Vaughan Rapatahana, and Steven Toussaint.

That is, admittedly, a pretty difficult act to follow, but this year Michele and co. have come up with Stephanie (the artist formerly known as Will) Christie, performance artists Makyla Curtis & Hannah Owen-Wright, Catalyst's Doc Drumheller, Fast-talking P.I. Selina Tusitala Marsh - me - and AUP poet Sam Sampson.

And there's some pretty trippy stuff up there by the various members of the gang. Go on, have a listen - you know you want to.



Jack Ross: Ice Road Trucker, designed by Daniel Fyles (2015)


My own selection is called "Ice Road Trucker," and is (I'm sorry to say) at least to some extent themed around my fascination with said reality show. Sorry about that. After America's Next Top Model, what's next?



There's lots of other crazy shit there, though, I promise you. Not to mention a few thoughts on mortality inspired by the recent death of my father.

The important point, though, is that I think this is another great idea from the nzepc. A small but instantly accessible selection of audio poems is a very useful thing for a writer to have. In many ways, it's the next step forward from our three Auckland University Press audio / text anthologies of New Zealand Poets in Performance.



Wednesday, December 02, 2015

Poetry NZ Yearbook 2 now available!



Cover image: Karl Chitham / Cover design: Anna Brown



Poetry NZ Yearbook
Editor: Jack Ross

(Volume 2 [Issue #50], November 2015)

ISSN 0114-5770. ii + 286 pp.

Auckland: School of English and Media Studies / Massey University, 2015



So, yes, it's out. And available for purchase from the website here.

Why should you buy it? Well, it's got reviews and essays and loads and loads of poems, and a fantastic cover image by artist Karl Chitham, and a cool cover design by Anna Brown, and it's really really long (288 pages this time), and it's got a poetry feature and an interview with the wonderful Robert Sullivan. Isn't that enough?



Robert Sullivan (2015)
photograph: Bronwyn Lloyd


If you're still not sold, you can find a full table of contents here. And, let's face it, what better Christmas present could you find for that special someone?