Joanna Preston: Tasmanaut Poet
The first words of Tolstoy’s novel, Anna Karenina, are much quoted: Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. The thing that has struck me most forcibly about the poems in the 2013 Takahe poetry competition is that this phrase (with an inversion and a few substitutions) could also serve …
Continue reading "The Karenina Aspect – reflections on the first read-through"
After a couple of weeks where the weather has been glorious and my garden has gone berserk, winter has paid us a return visit. Rain, sleet, wind, murk, yuck. Lousy for gardening: good for writing. Better still for judging the 2013 Takahe poetry competition. The bundle arrived this morning. 311 poems, to be whittled down …
Continue reading "A Suitable Occupation for a Wet Week – the 2013 Takahe poetry comp"
Yep, it’s that time of year again – New Zealand’s longest-running poetry readings series is back. Starting in just eleven days (October 2nd) and giving some sort of meaning back to Wednesday nights, it’s time to prepare yourself for eight weeks of Poetry in Performance! As usual, there will be an open mic session (with …
We’ve lost one of the great ones. Last Friday that gentle, good man with the eye of a shepherd and the heart of a bard, Seamus Heaney, died after a short illness, aged 74. For a number of reasons I find myself feeling undone by this. He has been a huge influence. I never met …
Last night the 2013 NZ Post Book Awards were announced, with The Darling North by Anne Kennedy taking out Best Book of Poetry, and Helen Heath’s Graft taking out Best First Book of Poetry. Well done Anne and Helen! The open was a really interesting field – the judges decided they couldn’t only shortlist three, …
Continue reading "Awards! (Other people’s!) and a Competition!"
A Dark Feathered Art 