The Road Goes Ever On And On

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can.

[JRR Tolkien]

Well, the Road may go ever on and on, but I've stopped following it. The Voyagers Book Tour of New Zealand has moved north of Wellington, while I remain, dipping my weary feet in snow just deep enough to serve as a coverlet for a hobbit's toes.

I could report tales of drunkenness, drugs and debauchery from my travels with Voyagers, but I won't, because I'd have to make them up, and I'm tired. What I can say is that the events in Dunedin (on the 14th and 15th - Kay McKenzie Cooke reported on the latter), Christchurch (here's a report) (16th), and now Wellington (19th) have gone well, that I've met old friends and new, and that many poets seem to have found inspiration from their first exposure to science fiction poetry!

In that regard, I'm really pleased that we decided to have an open mike for science fiction poetry at those events where the lineup of Voyagers poets was small enough to permit it – which means all the South Island events and the events at Paraparaumu Library on the 20th and the Depot Arts Centre, Devonport, on the 24th. It was great to hear the Voyagers poets read, both their own work and that of other poets who couldn't be there (such as Katherine Liddy's "Crab Nebula", which even had poets competing to read it one venue). It was equally exciting to hear poets, inspired by the occasion, reading science fiction poems they had recently written — Kay McKenzie Cooke and Helen Lowe among them.

So now the road, and the tour, go on, in the capable hands of IP publisher and poet David Reiter, while I remain behind, dealing with all the tasks that have accumulated while I've been away. The remaining events on the Voyagers Book Tour are:

Auckland Central Library, 22 Oct, 5.30pm, with Raewyn Alexander, Jacqueline Ottaway, Iain Sharp, Michael Morrissey, Anna Rugis, Alastair Paterson, Iain Britton, Thomas Mitchell, Janet Charman and David Reiter

Devonport, Depot Arts Space, 28 Clarence Street, 24 Oct, 6:30 pm, with Iain Britton, Alistair Paterson, Andrew Fagan, Janet Charman, Anna Rugis, Thomas Mitchell and David Reiter - plus open mike for science fiction poetry, if time permits.

Iain Britton's fine collection Liquefaction will be launched during these Auckland events.

If you've missed the tour, there are a number of ways to buy a copy of the book the Listener recently reviewed so enthusiastically:

• Directly from me (within NZ). I now have a limited number of copies for sale for $28 plus $2 p&p. If you'd like one, please email senjmito@gmail.com with your address and preferred payment method, and we'll take it from there.


• From an increasing range of bookshops. Unity Books (Wellington and Auckland), Bruce MacKenzie Books in Palmerston North, Madras Cafe Books in Christchurch, and the University Book Shop in Dunedin all have copies, or can take your order if stock has run out.


• From the publisher.


• From Amazon.com (in paperback and Kindle e-book formats).


• From Fishpond.


• From New Zealand Books Abroad.